Have you ever temporarily lost (or maybe permanently) an ancestor? They were in a certain location on one census, gone the next and possibly back on the next census. Or, they seemed to take the entire family and just go "poof". When we think of the early settlers in Kentucky (or anywhere), we picture them coming to a certain area, building a cabin and living out their entire lives there. Many biographies show that John Switzenswartz was born so and so and died 80 years later in the same cabin. That happened of course. But - many of our settlers had wanderlust too. They read in the little newspapers, or heard from friends and relatives, of lands in Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Kansas .... and they piled their families in the wagon and off they went. Perhaps they left and the family remained at home as he scouted out a new land. Or, maybe he learned of gold being discovered or a silver mine in Nevada .... there he went. Some stayed; many came back. Once reaching this new promised land, they discovered that KY still had the best soil for growing crops, less disease ... and back they came. The moral of the story is to expand your searches when you've lost a man and/or his family. Since we are convinced that they should still be in KY, or maybe they've died .... don't be afraid to search in other locations. You might find a man living in a boarding house in some far away place as he tries to establish himself and bring his family there. Or maybe he's panning gold in California but comes back when the lure of getting rich quick doesn't work out. Maybe they lived and died in that cabin, but again - maybe they did a little wandering around between times! Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php Sandi's site: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/