Sam, Have you checked the MO Gen Web for Blackburn researchers in Laclede Co.? I corresponded with someone there who had very little knowledge of the Blackburn origins except that they came from IL. There are some there today( I checked the phone book when we went through there several years ago.) who have names similar to some I have seen in the Pike Co., KY lines which makes me wonder if that is the origin. One odd thing about the census records you sent for Alfred is that he went from Clay Co. to Laclede Co. that is sort of a backward progression through the state. Of course, Clay Co would have been pretty rough during the Civil War era as it was a hotbed of the MO/KS border war. Maybe he decided to go somewhere a little quieter. One of my dreams is to make a chart that shows by state and county and date which Blackburns were at a given place. Just about the time it seems that the migration patterns age getting clear there is something that throws the whole thing off. Some of the Levi Blackburn tribe of Watauga area, NC did migrate to KY, thence to IN, then ? Thanks for passing along the info. for our files. Miriam