Martha Clifford was also known as Ann (Unknown). Martha Clifford was born in 1810. She married
Aaron Conover on 6. Jul. 1831 at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, Hunterdon County, New Jersey; by hunt. Did our Martha Clifford first marry Aaron Conover?
Aaron Conover married 6 July 1831 Martha Clifford in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (note: until 1838, Hopewell Township, now Mercer County, was part of Hunterdon County). This marriage was reported in New Jersey Marriages, 1684-1895.1531 Our Martha, born circa 1810, would have been of the right generation to have married this Aaron Conover. Also, I do not know of another Martha Clifford of that area (that is, Hunterdon, Warren, Mercer and Monmouth Counties) other than Martha, daughter of Charles and Leah Clifford. Of course it is possible that this Martha was a "Martha Ann" or that Clifford was her married name when she married Aaron Conover.
David Conover's web site "Conover Families Dead Ends"1532 lists Aaron Conover; born 1810 in Monmouth County, New Jersey; died 6 July 1851 in Oxford Township, Warren County, New Jersey; married Martha Clifford; born 1810. However, Alene Stoner, who descends from Aaron's son Peter, reports Aaron dying 28 May 1852.1533 Alene Stoner (and David Conover's web site) reports two children of Aaron and wife "Ann," see below.
(1) Ann Elizabeth Conover; born 1833; married (first) [-?-] Ayres [the 1860 federal census for Warren County lists his name as William Ayers; born circa 1815];1534 married (second [-?-] Loder. In 1860, William, Ann Elizabeth and children Aaron Ayers, born circa 1855; John B. Ayers; born circa 1857; and Minerva Ayers, born circa 1859, were living in Oxford Township, Warren County; they were next door to Ann Elizabeth's brother Peter Conover and his family.
(2) Peter Conover; born 30 October 1834 in Harmony Township, Warren County, New Jersey; died 14 August 1896 in Red Cloud, Webster County, Nebraska; married Emaline (Sarah) Osborn; born 3 December 1836 in Buttzville, Warren County, New Jersey; died 12 April 1917 in Red Cloud, Nebraska. David Conover's web site follows Peter and Emaline's descendants through two additional generations, although sources are not given. I have not been able to contact David Conover, the author of the "Conover Families Dead Ends" website.
The 1850 federal census for Warren County, New Jersey,1535 lists Aaron Conover (age 40) with children Ann Elizabeth (age 17) and Peter (age 16), but there was no Martha; instead there was an "Ann" Conover (age 40). We know that in 1850, our Martha Clifford had married Alfred Hazard and had child, Martha J. Hazard, born circa 1846, and that Martha (Clifford) Hazard was living with her parents, Charles and Leah Clifford in Mercer County, New Jersey. The 1840 federal census for Warren County1536 lists Aaron Conover (age 30-40) with one male (age 5-10), one female (age 30-40) and one female (age 5-10). But since both Martha and "Ann" were born circa 1810, Aaron's wife could have been either Martha or Ann (or Martha Ann) in 1840. There was no "Ann" Conover in either the household of William Ayers or Peter Conover in 18601537 (9 years after Aaron had died).
One scenario would be that our Martha married Aaron Conover, they had two children, and then they divorced or otherwise separated; then Aaron married "Ann" and Martha married [-?-] Hazard. But, although not unheard of in those times, it would be surprising for the children to go with the father instead of the mother. In 1992, Alene A. Stoner (Helena, Montana)1538 placed a query in the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter:1539
CLIFFORD, CONOVER, Des info re children of Aaron Conover and Martha Clifford, m. 6 July 1831 Bethlehem Presy. Church. Was there a death or divorce for Martha before October 1834? [note: Peter Conover was born October 1834].
An Individual Record of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (AFN: 10R9-LD7) submitted by Alene Stoner gives the birth of Ann Elizabeth Conover as 1833 and reports her parents were Aaron Conover and Ann. I contacted Alene, whose great grandfather was Peter Conover (son of Aaron and Ann Conover) in 20021540 and she confirms that Aaron married an "Ann," and still finds the Martha Clifford who married Aaron Conover a mystery.
Although I know of no other Martha Cliffords for that area and time, there were several Aaron Conovers in New Jersey at that time. For example an Aaron Conover married Catherine Stevenson 28 November 1847 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.1541 There was an Aaron Conover, age 55, enumerated in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1850, with apparently son Daniel Conover, age 30, and his wife Rebecca, age 29, and children Catherine, age 3, and James, age 1.1542 Also an Aaron Conover, age 45, was enumerated, apparently as a boarder, in the household of Cornelius and Margaret Applegate in Monmouth County in 1850;1543 and an Aaron Conover, age 12, was listed in the family of Ralph and Mary Vanderbilt in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, in 1860.1544
It is tempting to list these Conovers and their descendants in our Clifford line. But I know of no Clifford documents that mention Aaron Conover, Ann Elizabeth Conover (or Ayers), or Peter Conover. The records of Hunterdon County, New Jersey Marriages, 1795-1875, listing Martha Clifford marrying Aaron Conover, were transcribed from original records and perhaps there was a transcription error. Nevertheless. without even some good circumstantial evidence that our Martha Clifford was the mother of Ann Elizabeth and Peter Conover, I will hold off including them as descendants of James Clifford (#3).
http://www3.telus.net/cliffordweb/content/generation5j.html#ENDNOTE_1535.