Dear Cuzzins, Here is the information that I have so far: 1) 1st marriage of Joseph William Jenkins 1885 Mathews County, VA to Sarah Davis, he lists his father and mother as: Harrison Jenkins & Nancy Smith Jenkins. Joseph states he is born in Norfolk County, VA 2) 2nd marrige of Joseph William Jenkins 1916 Portsmouth, VA to Nellie Byrd, he lists his father and mother as: W.H.H. Jenkins & Nancy Smith Jenkins. Joseph states he is born in Portsmouth, VA (Portsmouth is a city in Norfolk County at that time). 3) Newspaper obituary for Joseph's death 1926: states that Joseph is survived by a sister named Mrs. Laura Murray of Norfolk, VA (Norfolk is a city in Norfolk County at that time). Joseph lived in Portsmouth at 416 4th Street, he was survived by Nellie. " JOHN W. JENKINS " was a pall bearer at his funeral. (listed as surviving Joseph are son, Joseph W. Jenkins Jr. and 3 grand children and wife Nellie and sister Mrs. Laura Murray). It is not known if Joseph had other brothers and sisters, or nephews, or cousins, as of this writing 12/97 4) Joseph's death certificate lists his mother and father's birth place as: VA 5) Joseph's parents are listed this way when married: Harison Jinkins m. Nancy Smith in GATES county, NC on April 1, 1850; birth place: VA 6) The 1850 census for GATES county lists: Harrison Jenkins age 29 Nancy Jenkins age 22...it states they are BORN IN VA (their next door neighbor is Ann Jenkins age 57 born in VA; lives with James Jenkins age 24 born in NC) 7) The 1860 census for GATES county, NC lists: Harrison Jenkins age 40; lives with a woman Anna Jenkins age 85; the blank is not filled in for birth place, I assume it means they are both born in NC. (Nancy is not living with Harrison Jenkins..she is 1 month away from giving birth to Joseph...the census was taken in June 1850, Joseph was born July 2, 1860) 8) The 1870 census for Norfolk County, VA lists Nancy Jenkins age 40 as a servant in the Taylor Tazewell household; Joseph is age 11 and listed as errand boy. They are both listed as being born in NC. They live in Norfolk, VA. 9) The 1870 census for Norfolk county, VA lists Laura Jenkins age 8 living in an orphange asylum in different district from Nancy Jenkins, but in the same city of Norfok, VA. 10) There is a William H.H. Jenkins who served in The War Between The States on a list of soldiers and he is listed as serving in South Carolina. 11) I sent for Joseph's birth record in VA cost $8; came back that they do not have him listed as being born in VA. 12) A lady on the internet looked at the Library of VA for me for the births of Joseph & Laura Jenkins on micro film there. She could not find them listed. The above is all the conflicting information that I have gathered on my ancestors. Below is a list of things I have done to search out the above information: 1) I have called all the cemeteries for Laura Murray; they have one Laura Murray who was born born 1842. No other Laura Murray listed in Norfolk or Portsmouth, VA. 2) I am still looking for Laura Murray on the 1920 census soundex for her. 3) I checked the city directory for Laura Murray for 1924 (they don't have book for 1926); She is not listed as such. There are quite a few Murray's but I can't figure out if one of them is her. 4) I checked the city directory for 1924 for "JOHN W. JENKINS". Portsmouth lists J.W. Jenkins and John W. Jenkins. Norfolk lists John Wilcox Jenkins and J. W. Jenkins. I have no way of knowing which John W. Jenkins is kin to me. 5) I sent for the MARRIAGE BOND in Raleigh, NC for the marriage of Nancy Smith & Harison Jinkins...have not heard from them yet. It might or might not list the parents of Harison and Nancy Jenkins; it might or might not list the county/state they are born in. 6) I wrote down all the JENKINS listed in the census for Norfolk County, VA in 1870 just in case they may all be related to me. 7) I sent for #80 forms from National Archives to check the soldier listed as William H. H. Jenkins who served in War Between The States in South Carolina. I want to check for more info on Harrison and Nancy w/the marriage bond, before I search the Civil War info 8) I sent to Gatesville, NC and asked for a land deed for Harrison Jenkins, wanted to see if he owned the land he farmed. I asked if there was an index for land deeds. 9) I sent to Gatesville, NC and asked if they had any "loose/estate papers" for Harrison Jenkins; he may have died during the Civil War and if he did not leave a will, it is possible that there may be papers showing how his property/if he had any, was divided. 10) I sent to Gatesville, NC and asked if there was an index of wills on file for about 6 propestive Jenkins that might possibly be kin to my Jenkins. Cuzzins, if you can think of anything else I can do for the following, please let me know: 1) How can I find out where Nancy and Harrison were born in VA? 2) How can I connect JOHN W. JENKINS to my family? 3) How can I connect Mrs. Laura Jenkins to my family? 4) How can I find out where Nancy Smith Jenkins was living in 1860 for the census that year? 5) Nancy and Harrison Jenkins were married 10 years before Joseph William Jenkins was born in 1860; I have to believe that they had other children during those years, how can I find sources that show this information? 6) I can't find Nancy Jenkins in any cemetery in Portsmouth,or Norfolk VA, how can I find her burial and where do I search for this information? 7) I can't find the marriage for Laura Jenkins (the Laura born 1862 and was in orphanage) in VA. Where and how do I find sources to check for her marriage? 8) How do I connect up the dots with JOHN W. JENKINS and LAURA JENKINS to my family? 9) Nancy Smith Jenkins and Harrison Jenkins seem to have been born in VA; how do I go about trying to find their birth places, when the 1840 census only lists heads of households? 10) The census for 1870 in Norfolk County, VA that lists Laura in an orphanage, is almost totally "unreadable", the previous page that lists the "boys in that orphanage is just a scratchy blank page and not at all readable"...can someone in another state check "their" census roll to see if theirs is better than mine? 11) I don't know where Laura was married, she may/may not have been fathered by Harrison Jenkins....how do I find out A)where she was married B) where she was born C) if she was married once before she married Mr. ? Murray? 12) And this is a big 12....if "anyone who has been doing genealogy for years and can offer their insights into the sources that I should be checking for my search on my ancestors, can give me pointers, I'd be so very grateful"....thanks guys so much in advance....your Tidewater VA cuzzin Susan