Dear Deb, You wrote: I am researching Richard Gill born abt 1776 somewhere in Va.. He married Martha Milly Hutcherson abt 1792 (possible Madison Co.) The lived in Garrard Co., where they had 8 children: James, Mary (Polly), Betsy, Jenny, Charles, Sarah, William and Lydia. They moved to Anderson Co. where Richard died abt. 1843, and Martha died abt. 1855. Would be interested in any info out there. Deb (Gill) Sanford Alabama My response: I am not answering your question. It seems you need to do some additional research of your families of Garrard Co. Therefore, I am making some suggestions which you MAY find useful. First Garrard Co.'s formation in 1797, created from Lincoln, Madison and Mercer counties. (Remember this.) Are you near Dothan, Alabama? If so, it is possible that you may be able to use the library facilities at Wallace Community College at Dothan, AL. At one time, they had a course in genealogy, and I believe the library may have been open for research by non-students, particularly the tax-payers of Alabama. I did a google.com search for Wallace Community College, and I see they have a website as well as a toll-free number. I did not see on the extended website a course called Genealogy nor did I see a link to a Library service. But, with the toll-free number, you might be able to determine whether they still have a good genealogy collection. Also, in the distant past, I belonged to the Garrard Co. Historical Society. For a fee, they will do some research for you. In the meantime, if you can get hold of a three volume set called The 1787 Census of Virginia, you may be able to determine whether there were any Gill families in Virginia at that time. At that time, Kentucky was still a part of Virginia, and so there are some Kentucky tax lists included in that so-called Census. These are really personal property [not real property] tax lists for nearly every county in Virginia at that time. The third volume of the set is an index to the two preceding volumes. I have learned to photocopy every page of the index which pertains to surnames I am researching in Virginia and in Kentucky. Surprise--my ancestor was already moving to Kentucky (Madison Co.) from Albemarle Co., VA. He had personal property in both localities. If you know the wife's name, search for her ancestors also in that list. I bet somewhere in Alabama, there must be a set of these books. My experience in a lot of Southern States, is that genealogy is a favorite pastime and libraries, even small ones, have a few books of use to you. (Check the Reference books while you are in a library.) Incidentally, some of us genealogists have discovered some great books in community and university libraries, which are located near our homes. Generally, you have to look under *Local History*. If you are near an LDS family history center, be sure to check out their holdings. Ask whether there are hundreds of microfiche called AIS - Accelerated Indexing system. This is now outdated, but still quite useful. It is an index to all the US censuses through 1850, and for some western territories, it goes beyond 1850. Also, there are some 1850 and 1860 mortality schedules. Remember--this is an index, and except for some early censuses where only numbers were used, the abstracts include those numbers. Since some censuses are missing in the early days, there are some tax lists for certain places in Search 1. (Each census year is a separate search.) Get acquainted with AIS at a nearby LDS center--if you can. Good luck! E.W.Wallace ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com