My grandmother was Tennie Bates the daughter of William Thomas Bates and granddaughter of Francis Marion Bates. This Francis Marion Bates had a brother named Christopher; mother named Mary Polly Bates. It appears that both brothers were illegitimate. When the boys were young, Mary Polly Bates married Egbert O. Waller, but both boys kept their mother's last name. Some believe that Christopher's father was Indian but we do no know his name as far as I know. Does anyone out there know the name of Francis Marion Bates' father or Christopher's?