His death certificate records Elmus Manning, age 62 years 1 month 28 days, born 10 Sep 1863 in Fleming Co., died 8 Nov 1925 in Fleming Co., Ky, married, farmer, father Green Manning, mother’s maiden name Mollie Coleiron, both born in Rowan Co., cause of death ulcer of stomach, informant Frances Manning, Hillsboro, Ky, burial in Ringos Mills.

Mary/Mollie Coldiron was Elmus’s stepmother rather than his mother. Census records are more consistent with a birthdate in 1865. (He was listed as age 4 in 1870 and age 14 in 1880.)

1900 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Morehead precinct, enumerated 16 June, lists on p. 14A as family #266:
Mannin, Elmus, 34, b. Aug 1865, farmer; Lucy, wife, 23, b. Oct 1876, married 2 years, mother of 1 child, 1 living; Taylor, son, 10, b. Aug 1889; Vincil, son, 8, b. Sep 1891; Ollie, son, 6, b. March 1894; Bessie, dau, 3/12, b. Feb 1900. All born Ky Ky Ky.

1910 census of

1920 census of Fleming Co., Ky, Hillsboro precinct, enumerated 7 Jan, lists on p. 3B as family #53:
Manning, Elmus, 55, farmer; Lucy, wife, 43; Taylor, son, 28; Saunders, Roy, son-in-law, 22; Dolly, dau, 18; Omar W., son, 1. All born Ky Ky Ky.

The death certificate of Elmus’ oldest son Taylor (born 1889 or 1890) gives his mother’s maiden name as Kate Hargis, but the marriage register records the name of Elmus’ first wife, married in 1888, as Mary C. Pelfrey.

There would seem to be three possible explanations for this discrepancy: (1) the marriage to Mary C. Pelfrey was very brief and Elmus married Kate Hargis in late 1888 or early 1889, (2) Mary’s C. Pelfrey’s maiden name was Hargis and she was previously married to a Pelfrey, with the C standing for Catherine, or (3) Taylor’s death certificate is incorrect in listing his mother’s maiden name as Kate Hargis, and it should have been Kate Pelfrey. (The informant was Roy Saunders, husband of Taylor’s younger half-sister Dolly, so he may well have not known the maiden name of his father-in-law’s first wife.)

The second two hypotheses seem more likely than the first. Further evidence is needed to determine which is correct. I checked the 1870 and 1880 censuses, and could find no Mary Catherine Hargis or Pelfrey of the right generation (born 1863 to 1873) in the area. There were two Catherine Pelfrey’s with no indication of another given name, and two Mary Hargis’s with different middle initials (A and J.)

Rowan Co. marriage register A, p. 15, records the marriage on 22 Mar 1888 of Elmus L. Mann and Mary C. Pelfrey.