my ancestor [Nathaniel KIRBY] died intestate 1833, Monmouth co, NJ. based on my research to date, I've made the presumption that he died 'unexpectedly' as those who were ill had drawn up wills in one fashion or another. from wills & deed we know his grandfather was a carpenter; from a story about his widow removing to Illinois, she dreamed her sons would have a chance to be anything other than fishermen, out on the prairies. so, I'm beginning to wonder if my ancestor was a fisherman, hence his unforseen death [all sorts of potential scenarios pop in mind]. the author of the story mentioned, having lived in IL, spoke of her ancestor being from the 'coast' though I don't think of Upper Freehold twp as being a 'coastal town' per se. my question: is there any way to know/places to look? nothing from his inventory leads us to any sort of profession... what were common professions in 1833? how early did such a thing as a city directory exist [assuming it had more to do with telephones than anything]? will records be found as to taxation or anything else like that for the time period? I'm aware of 'colonial' papers & records; there are fabulous maps that help place people in the area later on [i.e., 1851 Lightfoot]. my missing time period --1790-1840--coincides with the census records that no longer exist [& other helpful things]. I'm looking for new rocks to turn over so I can grub for the worms I might find there. so far it is this method that has found the info I have to date, so it's not a 'bad' method, but I don't always know the best places to look for the rocks, from here in NC. thanks as always, to some great lists! ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ kirbz@netmcr.com Kirby Heard in NC/US searching LUNAN and ANDERSON in SCT; JONES, MELL and HEARD in GA; KIRBY, GASTON and BRITTON in NJ