Individual Details

Mahala Goodman and Robert Bates were married in Maury Co, TN on 25 Apr 1819. William Goodman was bondsman for Bates.

TN State Archives, 8th Surveyors District, #141
Agreeable to an act of the General Assembly, Nov 26, 1826. For benefit of Robert Bates, 200 acres on Big Tom Bigby Creek, Range 3, Sec 4. Act passed to aid in establishing ownership of prior claims. Recorded in the Entry book, and survey made for Robert Bates. James Bates paid tax on 205 acres.
Note: this land was on the line of Maury/Lewis Counties.

Mahala & Robert Bates were probably living in Hickman Co, TN in 1830. There were three Robert Bates listed, none quite fit and one of the names indexed as "Bates" doesn't really look like Bates. Bates researchers do indicate Robert was some older and likely had an earlier marriage, so there could have been older children, etc. in the household. One Robert Bates, the one whose name is questionable, had no young woman in his home, only a lady who was 40-50. One Robert Bates was age 70-80 - it's doubtful that Mahala's Robert was that much older! The remaining Robert Bates had a large household: a boy under 5, 2 boys 5-10, and a man age 50-60, two girls under 5, 1 girl under 10 and a girl 10-15, one female age 20-30 [possibly Mahala] and a female age 40-50.

Mahala's descendants believe Robert was the first child of James Bates and Elizabeth Tubb who married 19 Jul 1782 in Rutherford County, NC. James Bates was in Greenville District SC for a few years and then Barren Co KY. Robert would have been about age 47 in 1830; Mahala was about 36. Perhaps the enumerator was a tick off the mark for their ages in 1830, or perhaps there was an older family member in the household. They had been married about 11 years, which makes a place for all the children except the female age 10-15, unless she was just 10. There is an extra adult female as well. Some suspect that James had a prior marriage but no record has been found.

1800 Census. Greenville, South Carolina
James Bates: 2m 16-26, 1m over 45. 1f 10-16, 1f over 45

Mahaly Bates was living in Williamson Co TN in 1840, now widowed, apparently recently since she had three children under five. She had a son under 5, 2 sons age 15-20 [the boys age 5-10 in 1830], 2 daughters under 5, a daughter 5-10, 2 daughters 10-15 [the two daughters under 5 in 1820] and a daughter 15-20 [the girl age 5-10 in 1820]. Her age listed as 30-40. Interestingly there is also an older Robert Bates, age 80-90 - he would seem to be the old Robert from Hickman Co in 1830. One wonders if he might have been a brother to Robert's father James. At any rate, the old Robert was still living in 1850 when he was in Williamson Co at age 105, born in England - he was living with Barnett Jones and family but there was also a Jane Bates, age 80, born in South Carolina in the household and previous censuses had indicated a younger wife.

In 1850, Mahala was also still in Williamson Co - living with John Hargrove who she would marry, 10 Mar 1851 in Maury Co -, placing Mahala back in Maury Co where her adult children were living. Mahala had a two year old daughter, Amanda Bates, who could not have been the child of her deceased husband Robert. I have seen descendants list Amanda as born in 1838, and there were two females under age 5 in 1840, so maybe the enumerator got Amanda's age wrong. Hargrove had five children from his first marriage in the household. By 1860, John Hargrove and Mahaly were living by themselves in Maury Co TN - he was 44 and Mahaly 56 [or born 1804]. In 1850 Mahala said she was born in South Carolina; in 1860 she said North Carolina. One wonders what had happened to the younger children from 1850 - Amanda Bates who was two, or maybe 12, and the youngest Hargrove child, Jerome, who was age three in 1850. There is no indication Mahala and Nancy had any further contact after Robert Bates served as bondsman for Nancy's marriage. They were both marked as being "unable to read and write" in the censuses.

1870 Census. Maury, TN, Hh 741
John Hargrave, 55, Bee Raiser, b. VA
Mahale, 68, b. SC
Sarah F. Finner, 19, b. Mississippi

Not all of the children of Mahala have been located and it's likely some died as children. These I list here were given to me by a descendant. I have added the census and grave information that I found online.

Birth	Ca 1804	South Carolina
Marriage	25 Apr 1819	Maury County, Tennessee - Robert Bates
Death	Aft 1870

Spouse	Robert Bates (1783 - 1840)
Child	James Wesley Bates (1823 - 1912)
Child	Martha Ann Bates (1826 - 1894)
Child	Nancy Emeline Bates (1830 - 1910)
Child	Jane Bates (1832 - 1883)
Child	Amanda Bates (1838 - 1883)
Child	Rufus A. Bates (1839 - 1859)

Father	Abraham GOODMAN (1775 - 1825)
Mother	Nancy [Goodman] (1770 - 1840)
Sibling	Hosea GOODMAN (1798 - 1857)
Sibling	Abisha GOODMAN (1800 - )
Sibling	NANCY GOODMAN (1805 - 1855)
Sibling	Manerva GOODMAN (1806 - )
Sibling	Lemuel Oliver GOODMAN (1813 - 1874)
Sibling	Telitha GOODMAN (1814 - 1896)
Sibling	B. Ervin GOODMAN (1817 - 1870)