We have a family mystery: For years, we have thought that my great-great grandmother's name was Melissa Biles Rutledge... But last year we found (online) a death certificate for my great grandmother, listing her mother's name as MARIAH MAYO. It was signed by the deceased's daughter (my grandmother) who is now also deceased. This came as quite a shock, as Mariah Mayo is a name we had never heard.
The death certificate is for Mary Rutledge Peoples, born 1871, died 1948 in Pittsburg, Camp County, Texas. I'm guessing her mother would have been born ~1850. Just a guess, as we can find nothing about this mysterious Mariah Mayo.
The reason the descendants thought Mary's mother was Melissa Biles Rutledge is because that's the person Mary's father, Rev. Allen Rutledge, was married to... We find Allen and Melissa in the census a number of times, along with their children -- none of whom is named Mary. Apparently Allen had an "outside" child with someone else -- Mariah Mayo.
