Ok, this is driving me crazy...reading all the posts i have discovered two things:

1)Jed is a widower
and
2)His late wifes name was Rose Ellen...

What i need to know is, what did she die of? Childbirth, maybe?

Please settle this for me!::confused:

I'm quite sure her cause of death is never told, but I think it is indicated that she did not die in/of childbirth. The only key we have seems to be in one the very early eps (the 2nd, I think), when Jed makes that sentimental little speech to Elly May. He says he thinks "every man would like to have a son," but she was his only "young'un," so "after your ma passed away I just went on and tried to rasie raise you like you was a boy." It seems he would have said it differently if his wife hadn't lived past EM's birth; instead saying "after" indicates the daughter's birth and wife's death were not virtually the same timewise.

awwwww :(

You know.... when I first saw Pearl in an episode. I thought she was Jed's wife.... but When he called her "Cousin Pearl" I knew she wasn't. :talk: