Ruth Payne's birth, according to the censuses of 1820, 1830, 1850, and 1860, occurred between June 1776 and 1781.

The 1820 Bedford County, Tennessee, census (household of William O. Whitney) lists her in age category 26-44, which would mean she was born between 1776 and the time her brother named her in his will in May 1786.

In the 1830 Bedford Co., TN, census, she is the head of household ("Ruth Whitney") and is in age category 40-49, which would place her birth between 1781 and the time of her brother's May 1786 will.

The 1850 census listed "Mrs. Ruthy Whitney" in the household of William H. Wisener (her son-in-law) as 70 years of age, meaning she was born in 1780. (In the 1850 census, her place of birth is listed as Georgia.)

Taken together, those three censuses during the lifetime of Ruth Payne indicate that she was born 1780-1781.

The mortality schedule of the 1860 census of Bedford Co., TN, lists her as having been born in Virginia and having died at age 83 in May 1860, meaning she was born between June 1776 and May 1777.

If Ruth's age was always misstated during her lifetime in the three censuses I have found so far, and was finally stated accurately by whoever provided information to the census enumerator after Ruth died, then Ruth was born about 1777. If the censuses during Ruth's lifetime were more accurate, then she was born in 1780 or 1781.

Since the 1860 mortality schedule information was probably provided by Ruth's daughter, Harriet P. Wisener, and stated Ruth's place of birth accurately for that year of birth, I think it is the more accurate evidence of Ruth's time of birth. Although the 1850 census gave a specific age (70), and was done during her lifetime, I doubt she could have been born in Georgia as it stated. Her parents lived in Halifax County, Virginia, until 1778, when they moved to Wilkes County, North Carolina. They lived in Wilkes Co., NC, until 1784, when they moved to Franklin County, Georgia. Since the information provided for the mortality schedule is internally consistent regarding place and time of birth, it seems more credible.

• Married: ABT 1804 ⁴

1. Thomas P. Whitney b: 1806/1810
2. Harriet P. Whitney b: 1808 in Franklin County, Georgia
3. James G. Whitney b: 1806/1810

1. Title: Federal Census of Bedford County, Tennessee, 1860, page 5, line 6 of the Mortality Schedule.
   Note:
   The mortality schedule lists people who died in the 12 months preceding 1 Jun 1860.
2. Title: Federal Census of Bedford County, Tennessee, 1860, page 5, line 6 of the Mortality Schedule.
   Note:
   The mortality schedule lists people who died in the 12 months preceding 1 Jun 1860.
   Note: The mortality schedule's information was supposed to come from someone in the household where the deceased had usually lived. Ruth was listed as a widow who died in May at age 83, having been born in Virginia.
3. Title: "Cemetery Records of Bedford County, Tennessee"
   Author: Tim and Helen Marsh
   Note: The same gravestone marks the graves of Ruth and her daugher Harriet. About Ruth, it says "Ruth Whitney, mother of Mrs. Wisener."
4. Title: Franklin County, Georgia, Tax Digests, Volume One (1798-1807)
   Author: Martha Walters Acker
   Publication: Birmingham, Alabama; M.W. Acker 1980
   Note: "Ruth Pain" is listed in the 1803 tax digest, but not in the 1805 tax digest. It appears she married William O. Whitney after 1803 and before 1805.