There is a question regarding how many times Jesse was married.  We have found no record of an early marriage in Illinois.

This question arises because in 1850 there was a young girl, Bethany (age 6, born in Illinois) included in the enumeration of Jesse's household.  In 1860 she was counted as Bethena, age 16, born in Illinois.

In 1850 there was also a Bethina (age 7, born in Illinois) enumerated in the home of Jesse's brother, John McKelvey Roberts. She did not appear in subsequent years.

On December 24, 1863, Bethena L. Roberts married John J A Logsdon in Hancock County. The marriage license contains no clue to the identity of her parents.  She died, date unknown, and was buried in the Roberts family burial area.

Our questions include:
- Did both John and Jesse have daughters named Bethena, or was the same little girl counted twice?
- If Bethena was Jesse's daughter, assuming he was married, what happened to his first wife? The Roberts clan was in Hancock County prior to 1840 and, therefore, prior to Bethena's birth, so if Jesse's first wife died, who was she and where was she buried?

Nancy Roberts Dye, Jesse's sister, moved in with Jesse and their widowed mother sometime in 1850, and was counted in censuses in Jesse's home for the rest of her life.  One reason for Nancy to have initially made her home with Jesse could certainly have been to help him raise a young daughter.

On July 27, 1865, Jesse married Mrs. Elizabeth Williams Jones. Marriage license

Elizabeth was first married to F. Simeon Jones; we believe this marriage took place in 1847.
Trigg County Marriage Register

Simeon was born in Kentucky about 1821.  He died September 14, 1856, 9 days after the birth of their daughter, Frances Simona Jones.  His burial location is undetermined.

Elizabeth brought her four daughters to Hancock County sometime after Simeon's death, presumably to be near her brother and two sisters.  According to the Frances' obituary, they came to Illinois shortly after Simeon died; we have not located them in the 1860 Federal Census.

The children of Elizabeth Williams and Simeon Jones were were:

i.	Jeanette Jones, born about 1848 in Kentucky.  She died after April 1, 1930, probably in California.  Burial location undetermined.
ii.	Mary G. Jones, born about 1851 in Kentucky.  She died in 1943, probably in or near Tampico, Whiteside County, Illinois.  She was buried there at Tampico Memorial Cemetery.
iii.	Sarah Ellen Jones, born February 16, 1853, in Kentucky.  She died November 19, 1936, probably in Pomona, Los Angeles County, California.  A photograph of her tombstone has been placed on Find A Grave. Sarah became the second wife of Joel Manning Baldwin (1834-1907) on November 5, 1896. They had no children.
iv.	Frances Simona Jones, born September 5, 1856, in Kentucky.  She died September 24, 1927, at LaHarpe, Allen County, Kansas, and was buried at Highland Cemetery, Iola, also in Allen County. Kansas.

 
As stated in the narrative for Jesse Gibson Roberts, he and Elizabeth were married on July 27, 1865.  They became the parents of:

i.	Leona Estella Roberts, also known as Stella.  She was born about 1866 in Illinois, in or near Fountain Green, Illiinois.  She died after April 1, 1930, burial location undetermined.

Jesse Roberts, 34, male, farmer, value of real estate 300, born TN
Naoma, 65, female, born TN
Nancy Dye, 24, female, born KY
Bethany Roberts, 6, female, born IL, attended school within the year

F S Jones, 29, male, farmer, born KY
Elizabeth Jones, 20, female, born KY, could not read or write
Janetta Jones, 2, female, born KY
Maria Williams, 22, female, born KY

Jesse Roberts, 40, male, farmer, value of real estate 2500, value of personal estate 500, born TN
Nancy [Dye], 32, female, born KY
Bethena [Roberts], 16, female, born IL

Roberts, Jesse, 55, male, white, farmer, value of real estate 2000, value of personal estate 500, born TN, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 or more
[Dye], Nancy, 44, "male", white, keeping house, born KY
[Jones], Frances, 14, female, white, born KY
[Roberts], Leona, 3, female, white, born IL

*Believed to be James Sylvester Roberts, son of Jozedic and Mary Ann Shipley Roberts.  However, both Jozedic and Mary Ann Shipley were born in Tennessee.