Sometime around the 1920’s, Frank and several of his children started spelling their surname Prayther rather than Prather.

His death certificate records Eli F. Prayther, age 91 years 1 month 13 days, born 1 Jan (year blank) in Sorah Co., N.C., died 14 Feb 1936 in Morehead, Rowan Co., Ky, widowed, father Hillard Prayther, mother’s maiden name Ann Ringo, both born in N.C., cause of death arteriosclerosis, chronic nephritis and infirmities of old age, informant Flora Hicks, burial in Pine Hill.

“Sorah Co., N.C.” is apparently a mispelling of Surry Co. It is probably mistaken, though, since in the 1850 census the family was in Wilkes Co., N.C., with the birthplace of the three youngest children, including Eli, being listed as Wilkes Co. (It was one of those precincts where the enumerator specified the county if it was within the home state.)

The reported age would imply a birthdate of 1 Jan 1845, but it is probably also incorrect, since Eli’s age was given as 3 in 1850, 12 in 1860, and 22 in 1870.

1920 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Morehead precint, enumerated 12 Jan, lists on p. 4B as family #34:
Oldridge, John, 45, farmer, b. Ky Ky Ky; Millie, wife, 45, b. Ky Ky Ky; Prather, Frank, father-in-law, 71, widowed, b. NC Ky Ky.

1930 census of Montgomery Co., Ohio, Jefferson township, lists on p. 14A as family #41:
Prayther, Elly F., 82, widowed, b. N.C. N.C. Ky

Her death certificate records Georgia Ann Prater, age 63 years 4 months, born 27 Jan 1853 in Ky, died 27 May 1916 in Morehead, Rowan Co., Ky, married, father Alfred Donahue, mother’s maiden name ---, both born in Ky, cause of death apoplexy, informant blank, burial in Pine Hill.

Many of her children’s death and census records report that Georgia Ann was born in Illinois, but her own census records taken while she was alive report her birthplace as Kentucky.

1880 census of Morgan Co., Blair’s Mill precinct #5, E.D. 87, lists as family #103:
Prather, E. F., 32; Georgia, wife, 24; Alfred, son, 6; Milly, dau, 4; Christopher, son, 3; Peter, son, 2. All born in Ky.

Christopher must be the son recorded as Nathan D. born 29 Dec 1876 in the birth records.

1900 census of Rowan Co., Morehead precinct, page 21, lists as family #406:
Prater, Frank, 50, b. May 1850, farmer, married 28 years; Annie, 41, wife, b. May 1859, mother of 9 children, 8 living; Alferd, 25, son, b. Jan 1875; Millie, 23, dau, b. Feb 1877; Dickson, 20, son, b. Jan 1880; Flotina, 18, dau, b. Feb 1882; Gorman, 16, son, b. May 1884; Blaine, 15, son, b. Jan 1885; Joseph, 13, son, b. Feb 1887; William N., 9, son, b. March 1891. All born Ky Ky Ky.

(The “son” Blaine was really a daughter Blanche, as evidenced by her marriage to John Pigman in 1901. The ages for Frank, Annie, Alfred and Millie are not consistent with earlier censuses or their death records. Dickson could not have been born in Jan 1880 or he would have been listed in the 1880 census as under one year. Based on later records, he is apparently the same person as Christopher age 3 in 1880. In short, all of the birthdates are probably fictional, as is typical of this particular census,1 so I am not entering them into my database.)

The three youngest children are also missing. According to death and marriage records, Frank and Georgia had three surviving children born between 1893 and 1899 (Mayme, Thomas and Ruth), none of whom appear here, and the child count of eight is fully accounted for by the listed children. The census taker may have taken visit notes on separate paper, and transcribed them into the official ledgers later (this was common practice), and missed part of the family.

1910 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Morehead precinct, enumerated 2 May, lists on p. 11B as family #195/197:
Prather, Jefferson, 61, b. N.C. N.C. Ky, laborer at odd jobs; Anne, wife, 57, b. Ill Ky Ill, first marriage for both, married 37 years, mother of 11 children, 11 living; Thomas, son, 14, b. Ky N.C. Ill; Ruth, dau, 11, b. Ky N.C. Ill.

Despite the mismatch in given names, this must be Frank and Georgia Ann, because they had a son Thomas of this age according to his death certificate, and a daughter Ruth of this age according to the 1920 census where she is living with Maymie listed as her sister (Maymie is in turn listed as a surviving sister in James Garfield Prayther’s obituary.) Also there are no other records that would match. I do not know if Eli Franklin Prather/Prayther had a third given name, or if this is a recording error, perhaps due to mishearing “F.” as “Jeff” and then making the assumption that was short for Jefferson.