I have just been sent this family which is the person brick wall (but it will apply to quite a number of other people as well) When all you have is an State that the person was born in pre 1850. 1. Jesse Boyd Birth 1807 in KY Death 1855 in Jefferson County, Indiana, USA Spouse Sally (Sarah) Staples 1808 - 1870 Children Artemsa Boyd 1830 - 1891 A) This tree does not give when Jesse Boyd and Sally Staples were married. I would assume about 1828 or more likely 1829. So I think my first task would be to find where they were married, TOWN, CHURCH and COUNTY. B) The second step would be to find out where the first child or few children were born. You may be able to do that from their Death certificate, the IGI or some other sources C) While Kentucky became a State in 1792, it does not have Federal Census until 1810. So I am not sure if the 1800 Census might still have been part of Virginia. I am partly ASSUMING that in all three situations that the Boyd family not move from when Jesse was born to when he was married and had his first child. Are there any other "tricks" or methods that people have used to break down this brick wall? Thank you Mike Boyd Historical Committee, HBS