Family Group Sheet
NameThomas Fraley
Birth1862-1873, Kentucky
Marriage1 Jan 1891, Rowan Co., Kentucky
Divorceaft 2 Jan 1891
SpouseMartha “Ellen” Trent
Birth18 Mar 1874, West Virginia
Death25 May 1958, Iaeger, McDowell Co., West Virginia
BurialIaeger Cemetery, Roderfield, McDowell Co., West Virginia
FatherHarvey Trent (1851-1929)
MotherRena Lambert (1851-1922)
Other spousesunknown
Notes for Thomas Fraley
Probably either the same person as Thomas Fraley born April 1870, son of James Fraley and Luzanna Steagall, or Thomas Fraley born ca 1862-1865, son of Phillip Fraley and Catherine Steagall, but I do not know which one. Since the marriage was so brief, it left little evidence other than the marriage record.
Notes for Martha “Ellen” Trent
Her brother Harvey “Dutch” Trent's 1952 obituary listed two surviving sisters, Ellen Fraley and Mrs. Tye Pettit, both of Yager, W. Va. (I have a picture of Tye and Ellen as old women standing together outside a house. Ellen is holding a pipe.)
Notes for Thomas Fraley & Martha “Ellen” (Family)
Rowan Co. marriage Book 2, p. 88, contains bond issued on 1 Jan 1891 to Thomas Fraley and Ellin Trent, with an attached consent note from Harvey Trent and Reeny Trent for "our daughter Ellin Trent" to marry Thomas Fraley, attested by James Fraley (who is also surety on the bond) and Jules Trent. The marriage is also recorded in Register A, p. 33.
The marriage to Thomas Fraley must not have lasted long, since she married in 1893 to Tobias Kegley, and was called Ellen Trent on that marriage license, not Ellen Fraley.
Somebody on the Internet wrote me that Ellen’s first husband Thomas Fraley was a brother of her third husband John “Mace” Fraley, but there is no Thomas listed with the Wilson and Priscilla Fraley family in any of the censuses. So I think whoever said her two Fraley husbands were brothers was probably just guessing.
Since they were married in 1891 and they were divorced by 1893 (quite possibly divorced the same year they were married), we won’t find him in any census living with Ellen.
The only two possibilities I can find in the censuses are Thomas Fraley born April 1870, son of James Fraley and Luzanna Steagall, and Thomas Fraley born ca 1862-1865, son of Phillip Fraley and Catherine Steagall. (The latter had a brother named James, so the bond surety is not a reliable indicator.) There are problems with both possibilities, though.
The problem with identifying him with the son of James Fraley and Luzanna Steagall is that the 1900 census lists his marriage to Ellen Medley as having lasted 11 years, which would imply a marriage about 1889. So if Ellen Trent married that Thomas Fraley, then the marriage duration to Ellen Medley reported in the 1900 census is wrong by at least two years.
The problem with identifying him with the son of Phillip Fraley and Catherine Steagall is that the death date of that Thomas’s first wife Fannie Cox is inscribed on her gravestone as 1896. So if Ellen Trent married that Thomas Fraley, then either he and Fannie were divorced around 1890, or Fannie’s reported death date is wrong. (The stone would have been about 100 years old at the time it was surveyed, so it may have been that a 0 was misread as 6.)
The marriage to Thomas Fraley must not have lasted long, since she married in 1893 to Tobias Kegley, and was called Ellen Trent on that marriage license, not Ellen Fraley.
Somebody on the Internet wrote me that Ellen’s first husband Thomas Fraley was a brother of her third husband John “Mace” Fraley, but there is no Thomas listed with the Wilson and Priscilla Fraley family in any of the censuses. So I think whoever said her two Fraley husbands were brothers was probably just guessing.
Since they were married in 1891 and they were divorced by 1893 (quite possibly divorced the same year they were married), we won’t find him in any census living with Ellen.
The only two possibilities I can find in the censuses are Thomas Fraley born April 1870, son of James Fraley and Luzanna Steagall, and Thomas Fraley born ca 1862-1865, son of Phillip Fraley and Catherine Steagall. (The latter had a brother named James, so the bond surety is not a reliable indicator.) There are problems with both possibilities, though.
The problem with identifying him with the son of James Fraley and Luzanna Steagall is that the 1900 census lists his marriage to Ellen Medley as having lasted 11 years, which would imply a marriage about 1889. So if Ellen Trent married that Thomas Fraley, then the marriage duration to Ellen Medley reported in the 1900 census is wrong by at least two years.
The problem with identifying him with the son of Phillip Fraley and Catherine Steagall is that the death date of that Thomas’s first wife Fannie Cox is inscribed on her gravestone as 1896. So if Ellen Trent married that Thomas Fraley, then either he and Fannie were divorced around 1890, or Fannie’s reported death date is wrong. (The stone would have been about 100 years old at the time it was surveyed, so it may have been that a 0 was misread as 6.)
