Re Mrs. Taylor in Williamson Co., Tennessee: You say she was in the 1830 census with several young children. I do not do Tennessee research, and therefore my suggestions may not apply to Tennessee. However, in other states, when a lady is widowed in this general time period, there is generally a guardian for the underage children. (Women, with some few exceptions, had few rights. Besides the idea of guardianship is to protect the property, not the children. Be sure to check out whether there was later a change of guardianship, as the mother may have remarried. In that case, most times the present guardian resigns and the stepfather becomes the guardian, sometimes to the displeasure, I have found in court records, of the ward (child). Even if the widow moves from one jurisdiction to another--even from one State to another--there may still be a court-appointed guardian for the underage children. In many States, at age 14 a child could choose his/her own guaardian. You may find the answer in court records. If there are not separate orphans' court records, as in some states, the guardianship reports/appointments/bonds may be found in one, or both, of these kinds of record: probates court records This means a lot of research, but genealogists always want to know the answer to the next question, do we not? I personally use the Family History Library catalog a lot--to determine when a county was formed, whether any records of the right time period exist for that jurisdcition, and so on. Also on familysearch.org there probably is a research guide or outline for Tennessee. If you can find a guide for Tennessee, check out the topics Probates, Court Records, tax records (if necessary), land records. Sometimes years later the grown-up heirs to the deceased parent are selling the property. I don't know how available are the index to North Carolina marriage bonds on microfiche. My own large LDS library has them. You might search for ALL the Taylors, searching both the bride and the groom indexes--that is, if they are available to you. I hope this gives you a few ideas as to where to look for more information. E.W.Wallace