I
am descended from Elisha Anderson, Jr. and
Jane Harriet McCullers, m. 1811, both of Burke Co., GA. Elisha's father, Elisha,
Sr., is said by Walter Clark in "A Lost Arcadia" to have been married four
times. His second wife--Elisha, Jr.'s mother--is said by Clark to have been Mary
Holzendorf, widow of William Rheney. However, other researchers assert that
William Rheney's will postdated the period in which Mary Holzendorf was supposed
to be bearing the children of Elisha Anderson,
Sr., and that in fact, William Rheney's will names Elisha as the husband of his
daughter Sarah Rheney. If there was more than one couple with the names Mary
Holzendorf and William Rheney, that would solve the puzzle, but otherwise, the
facts have to be confused here.
The matter of Elisha, Jr.'s father's
identity is likewise beset with murkiness. The 1820 census names three Elisha
Andersons living in Burke Co., two in the 26-45 age group (one of whom is
specifically cited as "Jr."), and one over 46. People married young then, so
either of the two Elishas not named as Jr. might have been Jr.'s
father.
The question that interests me further is just what Elisha, Sr.'s
relationship was to Elijah Anderson and his
wife Lavinia Brack. Was he their son, or was he Elijah's brother? Apparently,
there was an Elisha of each description, but which one--if either--was married
to Mary Holzendorf, or in any case was the father of Elisha, Jr. remains
mysterious. I would appreciate any light that can be shed on this.