Joan, I've thought the same thing. I was told by a Giger researcher by the name of Catherine Rossiter, several years ago, that Mary was born 1820 in KY, which would make her 15/16 when married. (I need to go back and check out that source...but my printed records are back home in AZ). After checking the census report, I put her birth year as 1820/23. I think there must be a mistake on that 1850 census report...or she lied about her age. You are right. I also need to check the Federal Illinois censuses for other years... Katy >If Mary is truly shown on the 1850 census as being 27 years old (and I would >want to see the film for myself to double check that--I have seen many >incorrect ages shown on census records) I would want to obtain other census >listings for her to see if her age might be recorded differently in those >years. I would seriously doubt she was 12 when she married.