Dear Cousins, In addition to many others, the USGENWEB has transcribed the ASHE county, NC census from 1800 to 1850. One of the notes to these census transcriptions mentions the difficulty the transcriber had in determining correct names. Please remember, a transcription or an index is just one more person's opinion of a letter or a name, and in turn, also is trying to identity the census taker's opinion! This makes it most difficult. I believe that a John Ferinton I saw is actually a Pennington. This is what frustrates us so when we find a person on one census year and can't find him in the next cycle, then there he is in the following decade! The transcriber also mentioned that determining a Jos. from a Jas. is almost impossible. Keep this in mind, and read the full census text to decide for sure. Of course, when the censustaker only used initials this magnifies the problem. J's and I's and T's become indistinguishable. Benningtons crop up where Penningtons used to grow! Remember too, it doesn't do a great deal of good to examine lists for a single surname. The Kith and Kin are enormously helpful in determining identity. Another good identity clue to remember is that in the colonial era and well into the 19th century, families determinedly held onto family names. As families migrated onward, and some remained behind, it was very often one of the few remnants they had to tie them to maternal families or others who held great meaning for them, but were physically far away. Almost all the Backcountry families practiced this, and often forenames were given to children to indicate connection to another family's surname. We find this again and again in these families. Even with names that we might now consider forenames, such as Douglas and Gordon and Allen, stop and take a look at other families in the proximity of yours. You may well find Douglas and Gorden and Allen (or similar ones) families who are not just Kith, but Kin as well. Our cousin Jim is burrowing around in this NC area, and we are depending on him to straighten things out! Ashe was formed 1799, just before the 1800 census. Ancestry has the 1800 and 1810 images, so it is possible to check out the actual census online. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com =========================================- -- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads