They were trying to keep a low profile. Father-in-law James Owen was a soldier on The Trail of Tears. Elizabeth Barton told me that he had to move to Georgia as a result. On the trip to Oklahoma he ended up having to kill a prominent Cherokee from this area. He moved to Towns County Georgia because he was afraid some of the Cherokee who stayed in Gloucester( in present Transylvania Co NC) would kill him as a result. Do you know Elizabeth's Maiden name or who her parents were? jerry owen wrote: > Phillip > Elizabeth Jane Owen is my Great Great Grandmother.She was born > February 13,1846 and died April 12,1884.She was married to William > Jackson Owen.He was the son of James Owen,who was the brother of Jesse > Owen.There is a mountain story to the effect that he sneaked her out of > the house when she was only about fourteen and took her to the mountains > of Georgia.We have recently found them in the 1870 Towns county Georgia > census.They have been really hard to track,almost as if they > deliberately kept a low profile.-- Linda Hoxit Raxter lraxter@citcom.net See Indexed Western North Carolina Cemetery Surveys http://www.geocities.com/~alextreehouse related to at least half the county - at least once ; )