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Ciphering Elizabeth (Taylor?) Rodgers

Old Billy Rodgers and his third wife Elizabeth had three children; Sophia who married Oliver Woodward, Druscilla who lived to the age of six and died in 1849 and John Allen who married Sallie (Newton).

Usually when you read of Old Billy's third wife, her maiden name is followed by a question mark: Elizabeth (Taylor?) Rodgers. I've often wondered if we had a comic ancestor who figured, since it was Old Billy’s third marriage and his wife’s name being Elizabeth, it'd be natural to believe her name was Elizabeth Taylor. However careful research reveals there's more to the assumption.

In the 1850 census Sophia Rodgers age 9 is living with the family of Luke and Jane Taylor in Edgefield District, South Carolina. The census record doesn’t state Sophia’s relationship to the Taylor’s, but because she's not living with her mother who we know is still alive and Sophia is only 9 years old, we assume the Taylor’s are some relation and Luke may be Sophia's uncle.

Though we can’t find her in the 1850 census we know Elizabeth is still alive in 1850, because Allen Rodgers shows up in the 1860 census living in Barnwell, South Carolina with Elizabeth and Spiner Elmore and three other children. The family is enumerated two pages away from Sophia (Rodgers) and Oliver Woodward. There's a marriage record for  Spencer Elmore and Elizabeth Rogers in Edgefield dated September 14, 1851. The 1860 census shows Elizabeth's age to be 58 years old, which corresponds with the 1840 census that shows her age between 30 & 40 years old.

If you've been able to follow this logic, you understand why it's reasonable to assume Elizabeth's maiden name was Taylor and why we believe she went on to marry Spencer Elmore. You may also be interested to know Elizabeth and Spencer had at least three children; Eliza, Sally and William Elmore.

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