I thought I'd share some new info that I've discovered in the past few weeks regarding some of the EVANS & WEST families who were living in Warren and Franklin Counties in the 1800's. In particular, the family of MATTHEW EVANS who died in 1844 Warren Co. NC and whose estate was divided between 8 heirs: FANNEY EVANS, wife of KINCHEN TONEY MOSES MECHAN EVANS, married ELIZABETH TONEY ISAAC EVANS, married WINNIE DALES HENRY EVANS, doesn't appear to have ever married CRECY/LUCRETIA EVANS, married ALLEN GREEN NANCY EVANS, married JAMES GREEN CELY EVANS, married MATTHEW TONEY PATIENCE EVANS, married DAVID MARSHALL. For the longest time no one could discover where MATTHEW EVANS came from, he first appeared in the 1808 Warren Co. Tax List, and it was thought he probably came from Virginia as did some of the other EVANS in the area. But I have discovered that he was actually a former slave name NATHANIEL, belonging to the white landowner, WILLIAM WEST, and that he was emancipated in 1806 after having been purchased from WEST,by MOURNING EVANS, a free person of color who was the wife of NATHANIEL. According to her petition, MOURNING IVINS/EVANS had been married some years before and she and NAT had 8 children together. MATTHEW EVANS was in the 1810 & 1830 Census, but was listed as NATHANIEL WEST, in the 1820 Census. Curiously enough, I had been researching the children of MATTHEW EVANS for a number of years, and could never find them after about 1860, but since finding this new information, it has broken down that brickwall. After 1860, most of the family started using the WEST surname and they lived in Warren, Halifax, Franklin and Nash Counties. In particular, ISAAC & WINNIE EVANS became ISAAC & WINNIE WEST in 1870, and all of their children carried the WEST surname: WILLIAM EVANS WEST -mar: MARY J. CARTER JOSEPH JOHN WEST - mar: JANE CARTER MATTHEW WEST - mar: HARRIET ODOM PRISCILLA WEST - mar: JOHN EVANS HENRY WEST RICHARD C. WEST - mar: MARGARET McGEE WINNIE WEST - mar: WILLIAM DURHAM BETSEY WEST - mar: JAMES WESTLEY CARTER HAYWOOD DOCK WEST - mar: EMILY ARRINGTON NANCY WEST MOSES WEST - mar: HARRIET PERRY If any of these families are yours, please feel free to contact me, I have lots more info on them and it may be of help to others researching these rather puzzling lines. Deloris Williams Co-CC Granville County http://www.ncgenweb.us/ncgranville/ My North Carolina Roots: http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=dwilliams-1 Descendants of James Evans: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=dwilliams-2 Sankofa's African Slave Genealogy Plantation Pages: http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Sneed+Plantation http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Montpelier+Plantation,+Granville+NC http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Cherry+Hill+Warren+NC http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Myrtle+Lawn http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Pleasant+Hill http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Tusculum+Plantation http://sankofagen.pbwiki.com/Vine+Hill