Morford / Burton / Grimes - DeVoe / Thompson / Robinson

DeVoes:
My DeVoe side is very well documented and I plan on posting much of that documentation here.  My great-grandfather, Elmore DeVoe, wrote an autobiography in the 1940s and I will be transcribing it and placing it on this website.  The DeVoes lived in Lebanon and Lincoln, Nebraska.  Lebanon is a small town in southwest Nebraska in Red Willow county.  I have obtained a pretty good copy of the Lebanon Centennial Booklet and will post it here too.

Morfords:
My Morford line causes me the most grief.  There is very little documentation.  In 1976 my grandmother, Frankie Morford, was contacted by a genealogist and asked to fill out some family worksheets.  Fortunately, my Aunt Mary copied those sheets prior to returning them.  The information contained on those sheets has been invaluable in confirming family links.  But I still lack information regarding my grandfather and great-grandfather.

Andrew Jackson Morford:
Andrew Jackson Morford (aka AJ Morford and Jack Morford) seems to have been the last of 11 children of Philip C. Morford and Mary E. Shoppell.  He was 9 years younger than the next sibling, Hulda Morford, and about 29 years younger than the first child, Susan Morford.  Of course this is very suspicious.  But I have found Andrew living with a brother in 1870, and another brother in 1880.  Both of the brothers are listed with Philip in the 1850 census, so this seems to tie him in pretty well.

My problem is that my grandfather, Bert, was born in Gallatin, Daviess Co., Missouri in 1883.  His father, AJ, married Alice Boltz Davis in 1892.  Alice and her family also lived in Daviess County.  Alice had been married to James Davis and had kids by him prior to her marriage to AJ.  But in 1892, Alice and AJ were married in Pulaski County, Arkansas.  My first unanswered question is why travel the 500 miles to Pulaski County?  My second problem is that my grandfather, Bert, consistently refers to Alice as his mother, but she cannot be.  Who was Bert Morford's mother and I presume AJ's first wife.