Morgan Co. marriage records list marriage of J. A. Elliott, age 30, and Rutha Ellington on 23 July 1863 by W. S. Hunt, witnesses Abraham Jones and James W. Lewis.

Don Nickell’s web site29 identifies this “J. A. Elliott” as Samuel Elliott’s son John Elliott. I feel this is unlikely mainly because family tradition among descendants of Mary Ann (Pettit) (Elliott) Crose is firm that John Elliott disappeared after the birth of his son Bluford, and they never discovered what became of him. If John had returned to Morgan County by 1863, surely Mary Ann would have known of it. Also, judging by the 1850 and 1860 censuses, John Elliott would have been 32 in 1863, but James would have been 30. (This is a less compelling piece of evidence, since ages are so often wrong in early census and marriage records.) The identification of J. A. with John instead of James may be because Morgan Co. marriage records also list a marriage for James Elliott to Sarah Caskey on 25 Aug 1864, at the home of M. A. Caskey, witnesses P. H. Dyer and E. Perry. (Census records are of no help in resolving this question, because neither James, John nor Ruth appear in the 1870 census of Morgan or surrounding counties. But there may be further clues in Morgan Co birth, death or land records.)