The 1810 census shows the following: Betey Poythress, 1810, Prince George Co., Va., p. 542, 3 m under 10, 1 m 10-15, 2 m 16-25, 1 f 10-15, 1 f 26-44. Who is this Betty and who are all of the children? Playing fill in the blank, we get: Elizabeth Bland Poythress (b. 1766-1784) b. March 29, 1770 (widow of William Poythress 1765-c. 1810) Joshua Poythress (b. 1785-1794) b. abt. 1784 (possibly son of Wm. & Mary Gilliam Poythress) Thomas E. Poythress (b. 1785-1794) b. abt. 1785 (possibly son of Wm. & Mary Gilliam Poythress) Mary Poythress (b. 1795-1800) b. August 3, 1793 (possibly dau. of Wm. & Mary Gilliam Poythress) William Poythress (b. 1795-1800) b. abt. 1794 (possibly son of Wm. & Mary Gilliam Poythress) 3 M under 10 b. 1800-1810 When I filled these names in, I realized that the children were probably the children of the deceased parents, William & Mary Gilliam Poythress. Betty's husband, William, had died within the year. In addition to this census, I noticed this: Prince George Records, Surveyor's record, p. 189, 15 May 1810. Pursuant to an Order of the court and by direction of John Batte, John H. Peterson and Peter Epes, I surveyed estate of William Poythress, dec'd, old courthouse road. William Poythress's land called "Branchester" and Simmons branch. Plat shows: 200 acres to Patrick Poythress, 313 acres to William Poythress, 50 acres to Joshua Poythress, 300 acres to Thomas Poythress. Robert Turnbull, County Surveyor. Significance: When William & Mary Gilliam Poythress died and left their children orphaned, their cousin, William, son of Peter, took them in to live with him and his wife, Elizabeth. When William died, "Betty" still had the care of the children. They evidently took good care of the children. Mystery solved? As for the youngest three boys, I have not figured out who they were...yet. I believe we now know who Betey was in the 1810 census. In the War of 1812 are the following two entries: Patrick H. Poythress, 83 Reg't (Scott's) Virginia Militia. (c. 1780-1824), s. of William & Mary Gilliam Poythress Peter Poythress, 83 Reg't (Scott's) Virginia Militia. (1782-1815), s. of Meredith & Edith Poythress It seems that Patrick Henry Poythress and his cousin, Peter Poythress, must have been close enough in age and idealism to engage in the same adventure. I have not checked to see if this adventure took them to Louisiana or not. Tales of Louisiana could have provided "fodder" for those Poythresses that eventually ventured into Louisiana. As to the following entry: Willie Portress, 62 Reg't (Selden's) Virginia Militia; Wiley Poythress, 4 Reg't Virginia Militia; Wilie Poythress, 62 Reg't (Selden's) Virginia Militia; Willie Poythress, 1 Reg't (Allen's) Virginia Militia. This individual could be Patrick's younger brother or another son of Thomas Poythress. More particulars are needed to ascertain which William Poythress this is. There is more "circumstantial" information in the records, but I will leave that for those that are interested in this exercise. We have to use our imagination and ALL of the available information to fill in the gaps in this family. While we may never have the tangibles required by the different societies in order to join their organizations, we can fill most of the gaps with "circumstantial" evidence, existent records and common sense, and that will prove the case for those that have studied the records in detail. Maynard and I have been able to build quite a few lists and he has generously provided a CD of hundreds of records to interested parties. Presently, a "virtual census" is being built to identify all of the adults and many children for the years from 1632 well into the 18th century. With all of the "lists," records, maps, Batte/Diamond family chart and the "virtual census," we should be able to identify most of the players within the different decades. With good insight, we should be able to fill in a lot of the gaps..........Mike