Jack Peyton

Jack Peyton's paternity was not discovered by Martha Ann Deaton's family until 82 years later, in August of 2023, when Martha Ann Deaton's daughter took a DNA test that revealed Jack Peyton as her grandfather instead of Harve Deaton. It is likely that Martha Ann Deaton never knew, as she passed away in 2020, three years before the DNA test was taken. It is also unknown if Harve Deaton ever knew of this. After receving the DNA results from ancestry.com, it was readily apparent that there were no "Deaton" surname DNA matches, even while knowing many of Martha Ann's cousins had taken the same DNA test. It did however show many matches with the name "Peyton", which was familiar due to the fact that Bertie Mae kept two photos of a man named Jack Peyton, one in which he was holding one-year old Martha Ann. After researching Jack Peyton, it was found that his only other child, Ronald Peyton, was still alive and lived in Albany, Georgia. Having contacted Ronald, he told us that he always knew he had a half-sister that lived in North Carolina but did not know who she was. He said he was told this by his uncle John after his father had passed away in 1989. Ronald agreed to take a DNA test and results showed that he was Martha Ann Deaton's daughters half-uncle, confirming that Jack was Martha Ann's biological father.