Thank you to those who sent me detailed information on when and where MO, TN and IL where created, it helps me understand better where and when to look for land records for my Higgins ancestor. the land records may be my only hope of ever learning my great, great, great grandmother's maiden name. to have four or five (or even six) states (including VA and Carolina before it split into N. & S.) to look in without knowing their creation date and the early boundaries is a bit overwhelming, this will give me something to work with that is a little more manageable. it will take me some time to work out, I'm in the middle of some other things right now, but if I hadn't asked I may have forgot to later. I'll start with MO first, as that is where they settled last, and where they are buried. Cornelia