Roger, In transcribing some of the 1840 census pages I had photocopied and put in my notebook long ago, I noticed a Jesse Sparkman. You mentioned you found "your" Jesse Sparkman in Robeson in 1850 so thought you might be interested in this one from the Marion County federal census, 1840: Sparkman Jesse Free white males 0 under five 1 age 5 and under 10 0 age 10-15 0 age 15-20 0 age 20-30 1 age 30-40 0 for all other age groups (up to age 100) Free white females 0 under five 1 age 5 and under 10 0 age 10-15 0 age 15-20 1 age 20-30 0 for all other age groups (up to age 100) The photocopy page includes only the first four columns of "Free colored males" and there is no information entered in those columns for Jesse Sparkman's household. The household enumerated just before Jesse Sparkman was that of Evan Scott, and, of course why wouldn't it be, the Sparkman household was the last one on the page. I don't have the census page number or post office info, but it must be for the area known as Hillsboro Township-- there are Gaddys, Goodyears, and Hays on the same page, which lists some 30 households. (Elizabeth Hays, living by herself and age 60-70 is also on this page.) Cheers, Victoria