I'm quite sure there never was a Rutland County in Michigan. Furthermore, very few white people would have been born anywhere in Michigan as early as 1809. At that time, Michigan was on the wildest of wild frontiers. Except for the area right around Detroit, it was essentially in the hands of the Native Americans. Detroit, Port Huron, and a few other areas bordering on Canada had long established French-Canadian populations (descendants of traders, mostly) and perhaps a few descendants of British occupying forces. I'd say the chances are very good that you are looking at something that has been mixed up or garbled through the years. Rutland Co., Vermont was the previous home of many early Michigan settlers who arrived in the 1825-1835 time frame or thereabouts. Many people came to Michigan from Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York as soon as the federal government offered public land for sale. The earliest land sales under the Northwest Ordinance and so forth for Michigan took place in about 1828. Milford, Michigan is indeed in Oakland County and was in Wayne County before Oakland was organized. At least, the geographical area known as Milford today was. Milford as a settled area surely does not date to 1809, though. There appears to be no Milford in modern Vermont, but I don't know if there was a historic town of Milford there. There are Milford place names in both Connecticut (New Haven Co.) and New York (Otsego Co.) though. Early Michigan settlers came in large numbers from both those counties. Early Michigan place names are often taken from the place in New York or Connecticut from which the first settlers had most recently come. I would definitely check for a birth record in Rutland Co., Vermont, since you have an exact date. Vermont towns usually have birth and marriage records back well into the 18th century. Lacking success there, I'd try Milford, New York next, though records in New York that far back are very spotty. Milford, CT probably has good records but seems less likely. Have you tracked your ancestor through the census to see what state appears most frequently on the birthplace question? Gary Lee Phillips fuffle@ix.netcom.com