Her death certificate records Mary E. Cogswell, age 80, born 1858 in Rowan Co., Ky, residence Clearfield, Ky, died 2 Feb 1938 in Rowan Co., Ky, married, wife of Joseph L. Cogswell, father Mansfield Singleton, mother’s maiden name Ida Blankenship, both born in Ky, cause of death pneumonia, informant Joseph Cogswell, Clearfield, Ky, burial in Lick Fork Cem.

I believe that the given names on this death certificate are incorrect for both of Mary’s parents, and that she is instead the following:

Lincoln Co., Ky birth records list Mary Ellen Singleton, born 20 Dec 1854 in Lincoln Co., father Alex Singleton, mother’s maiden name Mary Blankenship.

Here is my reasoning:

I cannot find any Ida or Mansfield Singleton of the appropriate generation anywhere in Kentucky, neither in the censuses nor the death or marriage records nor as parents in the birth records. There are no Singleton families in the 1860 census of Rowan Co., nor in the early censuses of Bath Co. (There are some Singleton families in Fleming Co., but none with a daughter Mary of the right age.) Anyway, considering that Mary and Ephraim were married in Lincoln Co., it is likely that the Rowan Co. birthplace is incorrect as well, as is the Bath Co. birthplace reported on Mary’s marriage license to Joseph Cogswell.

Lincoln county is surrounded by Casey (where Ephraim and Mary were living in 1880), Boyle, Garrard, Rockcastle, and Pulaski.

The 1870 census of Garrard Co. contains a Mary E. Singleton age 13, daughter of Andrew Jackson Singleton and Mary Elizabeth Hall, but she reportedly married John Bowerman in 1880 in Clark Co., Indiana. There is also a Mary E. Singleton age 6 in Lincoln Co., daughter of Harden and Elizabeth Singleton, but she would be too young to have married in Feb 1875. There was a Mary E. Singleton born May 1860 in Rockcastle Co., daughter of Richard M. Singleton and Susan Wheeler, but she married first Pinkney Langford and second John Bishop (parents confirmed by her death certificate.) This leaves the Mary Ellen Singleton who was the daughter of Alexander Singleton and Mary Blankenship as the only one in the area not known to have married someone else.

Some supporting clues are provided by the marriage record for Ephraim and Mary. The minister David V. Singleton who married them was born about 1825 to 1828, and died (according to his gravestone) on 26 Sep 1885. His wife was named Mary Jane Delaney. The witness John A. Singleton would be David's son, John Anderson Singleton, born Jan 1849 in Lincoln Co. David and Mary had no daughter named Mary. (Their only daughter born during the 1850’s was named Sarah.) The witness G. L. Murphy would be Granville L. Murphy, born ca 1854. In the 1870 census there are several Singleton families on the same page as Granville.

I believe the A. G. Singleton at whose home the marriage took place was Alexander Singleton, born ca 1820, with wife Mary Blankenship born ca 1827, and that Ephraim’s wife is their daughter Mary Ellen Singleton, whose birth record is quoted above. In 1860 Alexander and Mary are in neighboring Rockcastle Co. They also had a son David Anderson Singleton, suggesting a relationship between Alexander and the minister who married Ephraim and Mary. Finally, they are the only Singleton-Blankenship couple I can find as parents in the birth records.

Most likely Joseph Cogswell, who did not marry Mary until long after both her parents were deceased, and who never lived in the Lincoln/Rockcastle area, simply got confused over the given names of her parents, but got both their surnames right. Since people rarely refer to their parents by their given names, those names would probably be something he seldom heard Mary mention.

Lincoln Co., Ky marriage records list the marriage of Ephraim Hanes and Mary Singleton on 25 Feb 1875, at the residence of A. G. Singleton in Lincoln Co. by David V. Singleton, witnesses John A. Singleton and G. L. Murphy.

1880 census of Casey Co., Ky, district 21, enumerated 10 June, lists on p. 21 as family #193:
Haynes, Ephram, 25, occupation blank; Mary E., 23, wife, Martha, 4, dau; William H., 2, son; James, 8/12, son. All born Ky Ky Ky.

The birthdates above are very inconsistent with the 1900 census, but I’m pretty sure it is the same family, based on Mary’s death certificate and their marriage record.

1900 census of Bath Co., Ky, White Sulphur precinct, enumerated 12 June, lists on p. 11A as family #211:
Hanes, Epham, 58, b. Feby 1842, Va Va Va; Mary E., wife, 39, b. Jany 1861, Ky Ky Ky, married 26 years, mother of 11 children, 9 living; Sarah A., dau, 13, b. Aug 1886; Jonas (? looks like Jonin), 12, b. Apr 1888; Ikie, son, 8, b. May 1892; Jas (?) son, 4, b. Sep 1896. All children born Ky Va Ky.

1910 census of Forest Co., Wisconsin, Crandon town, enumerated 5 May, lists on p. 25B as family #426/433:
Hanes, Robert L., 23, woodsman; Nora, wife, 20, first marriage for both, married 6 years, mother of 2 children, 2 living; Edgar, son, 3; Stella, dau, 9/12; Hanes, Mary, 40, widowed; Isaac, son, 17; James, son, 15. All born Ky Ky Ky.