Woopsie, will the wrong Mr. Briggs please sit down...

I have Dolly Briggs on my family chart, her daughter Mary Jane is my ancestor. I found her connection to Edward "Big Ned" Wilson and took him to be her second husband but could not seem to find her "Mr. Briggs" husband. In my research I found a very vague mention of Delothe so took that to be her maiden name but amazingly, there are no Delothe families to be found. Why? Delothe is her given name! And she was called Dolly, and she never married so all her children have her maiden name.

I am again learning the value of forums. This was my first venture into Ancestry.com forums and I found three very good clues for different members of my history but this one out shines them all:

Board: Message Boards > Localities > North America > United States > States > North Carolina > Counties > Yancey URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.yancey/394 .1/mb.ashx Subject: Re: Delothe "Dolly" Briggs Author: XXXXXXXX Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Classification: Biography Surnames: Wilson, Briggs, Edwards, Hensley, Jones, Honeycutt

Dolly Briggs born about 1785 in SC, died abt 1885 in Yancey Co. NC. Her life long partner was Edward "Big Ned" Wilson - no info on his birth/death dates. Children: Leonnah Briggs born abt 1810 died abt 1844 married to John "Broke-Leg' Edwards (my GGGGrandfather) Mary Jane Briggs - March 10, 1813 - March 15, 1909 married Banister Hensley Charlotte "Lottie" Briggs, Born 1817 died after 1860 married Silas A. Hensley (also ggg grandfather) Belle Mariah Briggs, aborn abt 1818, died abt 1880 married William "Bill" Jones Howell Milburn Briggs, born 1827, died abt 1909 married Naoma Honeycutt, This info came from many sources, primary source was Toe River Valley Heritage Book. hope this helps you,

Can we say.... WOOT!

So I removed the false "Mr. Briggs" from my family tree program and I apologize to him for trying to make him part of my family tree without his consent, hehe.

So... if they were life partners, why? I mean, This is the early 1800's, wouldn't life partners be frowned upon and especially once children came along? Do I assume Edward is their father though I think it is obvious he was. This leaves me thinking on the times and why invite all the trouble that must have come along with their decision to live without marriage. I hope in my travels I come upon a story, or some reason why they chose the path in life they chose.