Her death certificate rather curiously records her given name as Elizabeth, when there is no hint in any other record that she may have sometimes gone by any name other than Martha. But there weren’t two daughters of Lewis Barbee and Elizabeth Hendrix who married Ishmael men. And the informant was William Ishmael, almost certainly her son. My guess is that the perhaps the clerk was careless and accidentally wrote down Martha’s mother’s given name as hers.

It states Elizabeth Ishmael, age 69, widow, born 1847 in Nicholas Co., Ky, died 26 Jan 1916 in South Sherbourne, Bath Co., Ky, father Louis Barbee, mother’s maiden name Elizabeth Hendrix, both born in Ky, cause of death pneumonia, informant William Ishmael, Bethel, Ky, burial in Mt. Zion graveyard.

In 1910 Martha was listed as age 65, widowed, mother-in-law, with her daughter Myrtle and husband.

1870 census of Nicholas Co., Ky, precinct 6, enumerated 5 Aug, lists on p. 27 as family #188/189:
Ishmael, Jas, 26, farm hand; Martha, 24; Lewis, 3; Susan, 1. All born in Ky.

1880 census of Nicholas Co., Ky, Upper Blue Lick precinct, enumerated 5 June, lists on p. 10 as family #85/87:
Ishmel, James, 38, works on farm; Martha, 37, wife; Louis, 13, son; Susan, 11, dau; Samuel, 10, son; Ida, 8, dau; William, 5, son; Nannie, 2, dau. All born Ky Ky Ky.

1900 census of Nicholas Co., Ky, Buzzard Roost precinct, enumerated 21 June, lists on p. 11A as family #209/210:
Ishmael, James R., 56, b. Mar 1844, farmer; Martha J., wife, 55, b. Sep 1844, married 35 years, mother of 8 children, 7 living; Myrtle, dau, 18, b. Oct 1885. All born Ky Ky Ky.

(The birthdate for Myrtle looks overwritten slightly, it could be 1883, but it is not 1881, which it would need to be to be consistent with an age of 18. She was listed as 28 in 1910, though.) The next household is their son Samuel, and the one after that is their daughter Susan with her husband James Flora.