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Note: The information available on Martha Ellen Ross does not seem to make sense. It seems certain that she married Pollard S. Benfield and that he probably died in the early 1890s. Her marriage in May 1891 also seems certain. According to the Cleveland Co., Marriage Register published by the Broad River Genealogical Society, she married William Clay (born about 1874) in the home of Henry White (probably her brother-in-law Hugh White). The witnesses were her brother Calvin Ross, W.P. White (her nephew William Pinkney son of Hugh White?), and William Clay. In the 1900 Census she is living with John Newton in Ironton, Lincoln Co., NC. He was born about Oct 1873 and supposedly they were married 8 years. I assume that John is the correct groom in the 1891 wedding since William Clay could hardly have been both groom and witness.
The identities of 2 of Martha's children are highly questionable. In the 1900 Census there are 5 children in the Newton household by the name of Benfield. 2 children (Lawson and Pearlie) have the name Newton. The 4 oldest Benfield children were born well before Martha's marriage to John Newton so they seem certain. The youngest Benfield, Susan, was born over a year after her mother's marriage to John Newton, however. It does not seem likely that Susan was actually a Benfield. Even stranger is the case of her brother Lawson. In the 1900 Census Lawson is listed as a Newton. Based on his age this would fit well. Although the dates vary slightly, it seems probable, however, that Lawson Newton is the same person as Lawson Alexander Benfield, born in 1894, and whose death certificate claims that his father was Pollard Benfield. I have left both Lawsons in my family tree, however, since I do not have the "smoking gun" to definitvely prove that they are one and the same person.
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