The 1840 census index I consulted at my local college library shows the following Fosters in Izard Co., but I feel this is an error and should actually read Independence Co. One reaon for my thinking this is that there is no Ruddle Twp. in Izard, but there is in Independence. Can anyone verify this? In any case these are the Fosters: John, p. 205, Lafayette Twp. John W., p. 206, Van Buren Twp. William, p, 208, Ruddle Twp. James, p. 209, Ruddle Twp. Nancy, p. 209, Ruddle Twp. Thomas, p. 209, Ruddle Twp. Does anyone know anything about these people? I haven't had a chance to examine the actual census (it would be nice to see who their neighbors were), because my library only has the index. I'll need to go to the State Library to view the microfilm to do that. I'm especially interested in the naming patterns of Nancy and Milly that I've found on other places online. Are these Fosters in Indepenedence Co. related to the family of Henry Forrester, b. VA on the 1850 Searcy Co., census? On this census there is a 29 year old Nancy Foster b. TN in his household as well as a Milly Foster b. about 1846 in AR. By 1860 Henry is out of the picture (dead I presume) and the remannats of this family can be found in Madison and Carroll Co., AR. In those censuses the family name is spelled Foster. I descend from the Joseph Forrester/Foster whom I believe is a son of Nancy Foster. I see that some research has been done on the early Fosters in Independence Co. but it appears that no one has been able to push this line backwards. I'd like to make contact with any descendants and compare notes. I have a hunch that my Henry Foster in Searcy is related to the Fosters in Independence on the 1840 census. Bob in VA