Carroll Co. VA marriage records list marriage of Ellis Dalton, age 21, single, born Carroll Co., son of Elias & Anna, and Lucy Mabry, age 17, single, b. Carroll Co., daughter of Joseph & Catherine, on 7 June 1875.

Although the marriage records says that Ellis is the son of Elias and Anna, I believe that Anna is listed because she was his stepmother from early childhood, rather than her being his mother. The reason is that his younger siblings James and Mary were listed in their marriage records as children of Elias and his first wife Mary. It is common for people raised by a stepmother to list her as their mother, but very uncommon for children of a second marriage to refer to their father’s first wife as their mother.