I have now managed to find the Ferguson family at the 1851 census for Scotland. Ancestry.com had indexed them as Forguson. There is a much better transcription of this part of the census, done by local voluntary enthusiasts. Go to www.dumgal.gov.uk/historicalindexes then search the 1851 indexes under Ferguson (usual spelling). William Ferguson, head, 33, b Mouswald DMS (Dumfriesshire) hand loom weaver Isabela Ferguson, wife, 31, b Dumfries DMS hand loom weaver John Ferguson, son, 10, b Torthorwald DMS, scholar Elisabeth Ferguson, dau, 8, b Torthorwald DMS, scholar Mary Ferguson, dau, 3, b Torthorwald DMS The family were living in Milligan Close, Maxwelltown, Troqueer Parish, Kirkcudbrightshire. Nowadays Maxwelltown is a suburb of Dumfries, but in 1851 it was a separate town on the west side of the River Nith which formed the county boundary between Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It was immortalized by Robert Burns' song about Annie Laurie; "Maxwellton's braes are bonny." Mouswald and Torthorwald are small villages a few miles east of Dumfries. The family didn't move far. The whole area would have been hit by the potato blight 1845-49. The trade of hand-loom weaving (mainly for stockings) was on its last legs. When the Fergusons made the decision to emigrate they would have gone by boat from Dumfries Quay to Liverpool and thence to New Orleans. None of the births/baptisms of the children have been found on scotlandspeople.gov which does not include all the Presbyterian records, nor could I find the marriage of William Ferguson & Isabella. However I think I may have found their birth/ baptism records. William Ferguson was born at the Banks of Mouswald on Jun 19 1816 and baptized on Jun 23 1816 son of George Ferguson & Martha ?Ihir. Isobella Hunter was b May 17 1818 at Tynron, Dumfries dau of James Hunter & Jean Crichton. Paddy