I'm just going to give my "2 cents" worth of ideas -- and hopefully others will contribute as well. Since they didn't get to GA until 1845-1850 --- that eliminates all the Land Lottery searches. So why did they move to Rabun? Pursuing this line of thinking might give you some clues. Have you tried any "neighboring families".... i.e. look on both the Census in N.C. and the Census in Rabun, and see if you can find any "common names"....in-laws, etc. Usually people moved at least in small groups, or knew people from the "old county" who moved and liked the "new county". Examine how many miles the trip would have been? I'm not that familiar with Burke, NC...but that would give you some thoughts about how it was done. Trains would have been in existence by that time... Occupation -- was he listed as a farmer in Rabun? What land did he own? Do you know their children? There are probably "poor school" records for Rabun. These were lists of pupils that "public school teachers" taught and were then paid for. We have some on-line for Upson Co for instance. Does anyone know where they might be for Rabun county? Courthouse? Where were they when the Civil War started? Almost all men served in CSA somehow...and there are also Salt Lists for women who had husbands or sons serving. At 11:40 AM 6/30/2004 -0400, Franksjj@aol.com wrote: >Dear Virginia - > >You asked about people your listers are stuck on? > >Does anyone have information about the North Carolina history of history of >Ellis Marcus and Cynthia Beck/Bick who married 18 Jul 1845 in Burke Co., NC? >By 1850 (census) they are in Rabun Co. > >Any advice or hint will be welcome. > >Joyce Jones Franks > > >============================== >Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration >Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237