Mary Jane SMITH (positively confirmed) of Abbeville, South Carolina, married Thomas D. Franklin 17 Mar 1831, in Kentucky. They subsequently lived in Alabama and then Attala County, Mississippi. Some of their children were born in Alabama and the remainder in Mississippi. They divorced sometime after 1852, with Mary Franklin owning her own land after the parting. Thomas was awarded land in Indian Territory by President Zachary Taylor, and it is possible she didn't want to move her children there due to unsafe territory.

Mary Jane is shown in the Census with her son, my Great Grandfather Hugh Samuel Franklin in Wood County, Texas, and then in Kaufman County, Texas. I don't know if she still owned her land in Mississippi, but it was probably sold prior to their trip to Texas. Mary Jane Smith Franklin is my GGG Grandmother. (Nancy Yankie)

Mary Jane then married Williams T. Burton whom I believe she had known previously from either South Carolina or Mississippi. The first wife of Williams Burton was also named Mary, however she was Mary Pruett whom he married on 11 June 1827 in Monroe County, Georgia. No record of her burial site has been found by me. (information provided by Granddaughter Nancy Yankie.)

MARY JANE SMITH, ONLY WIFE OF THOMAS D. FRANKLIN, AND SECOND WIFE OF WILLIAMS T. BURTON IS NOT THE MOTHER OF ANY OF MR. BURTON'S CHILDREN. (GGG Granddaughter of Thomas and Mary Jane Franklin. Her only children were those with Thomas D. Franklin, Jr. and they carried the surname FRANKLIN.)

++++++
Children of Thomas D. Franklin, Jr. and Mary Jane Smith Franklin:

James M. Franklin 1831-1916
John Franklin 1833-
Malinda Jane Franklin 1835-1921
Mary E. Franklin 1838
Lafayette Franklin 1842
Martha Franklin 1844
Constantine Franklin 1846
Hugh Samuel Franklin 1852-1893

********
'Our Burton Family' by Brian W. Burton was published in 1986 by the Burton Family Research Association, 10324 Hillcrest Road, N. Little Rock, AR 72116. Library of Congress: call # CS71.B97
Subject Title: Arkansas - Genealogy 87-111014

Parents:
Unknown

Siblings:
Unknown

Spouse:
Williams T. Burton

Williams and his wife Mary migrated to Madison County, Alabama where they raised the following five children:
John S. (born 1828)
Sarah Ann (born 1832)
Robert M. (born 1834)
James W. (born 1836)
Miles Franklin (born 1839)

In 1841 the family migrated to Tippah County, Mississippi where they raised five more children:
William Wesley (born 1842)
Lucy Jane (born 1845)
Allen Franklin (born 1848)
Mary Elizabeth (born 1851)
Minerva S. (born 1853)

On January 26, 1859, Williams and Mary* sold their land in Tippah County and moved the family to a growing settlement in Arkansas, known as Belfast, in what is now Grant County.

*This Mary, first wife of Williams Burton, is Mary Pruett whom he married on 11 June 1827 in Monroe County, Georgia. There has been no mention of this first marriage to the first Mary Pruitt to Williams Burton. The Burton family seemed to have been unaware and missed this marriage in their research. Williams Burton had two wives coincidentally named 'Mary'. (information provided by Franklin GGG Granddaughter Nancy Yankie.)