I've just discovered that my g-grandfather, Daniel Clayborn (DC) GILLETT(E) was born (1842) in Talladega County, Alabama, and that he 'grew up' in Arkansas. I knew from census records that he was born in Alabama, but 'til two nights ago, did not know where. Based on marriage records, he was in Clark County, Arkansas by 1866, and based on his statement that he grew up in Arkansas, I am now assuming he was there by 1860, possibly as early as 1850 when he would have been 8 years old. His sister, Margaret SPENCE, also b. Alabama, married Henry TURNER (b. Tennessee) in Clark County in 1866. Again based on census records, their father was born in Virginia, their mother in Kentucky. I've had no success in finding a GILLETT (or any variation thereof) slave owner anywhere near to my GILLETTs in the 1870 census. However, the SPENCE name yields some results. And there is a SPENCE in Clark county whose migration path is Virginia to Alabama to Arkansas, the same as my GILLETTs. A Sallie SPENCE married Alfred G. HEARN in 1856 (Clark County, AR) and the HEARNs were slave owners as well. So now I am looking for any GILLETT or SPENCE connections in Alabama, HEARNs in Tennessee. As far as I know, I am not related to the HEARNs, but interestingly, there is a Gillette HEARN in the 1870 Clark County, AR census, living near my g-grandfather... And Gillette HEARN had a brother named Washington HEARN who was in a nearby community. tootncmon