Hi Edith, The key to finding his family was the 1850 census where, so fortunately, he was living in Calloway Co KY. Nice for you that he was a near-lifelong resident there! Please bear in mind I make no claims of proof - these are conclusions and speculation based entirely on census records - it remains to be proven by your future research. 1. In 1850 there is a great clue regarding his wife Nancy. Notice the two children there named Elinor Taylor, age 14 and James Taylor, age 11 (Elinor is surname "Smith" in 1860). This would seem to indicate that Tilford's wife Nancy was previously married to a Taylor. 2. In 1840, also Calloway Co KY, there is a Nancy Taylor age 20-30, apparently a widow with a male & female child both under age 5. Ages are right for James and Elinor - can tentatively assume this is her and these are her 2 children. 3. In 1840, about six lines above Nancy Taylor is an apparent widow Martha Smith. Martha is age 40-50 and has 8 children in her household. Two are males age 20-30 (of the right age to be Tilford and another as-yet unidentified son, at least until you check back to the 1850 census). 4. Back again to 1850 - where we easily find Martha Smith head of house - age 56 and born NC. This is good news, because the 1900 census listing for Tilford Smith indicates both his parents were born in NC! Martha's youngest sons Caswell (19) and Richard (17) both born in KY are in her household. Next door to her is Gabriel Smith (30 - b KY). This tells you many things, and notice how names run in the family. a. 4 of her 6 sons from the 1840 census are now most likely identified: Tilford b TN ca 1818; Gabriel b KY ca 1820; Caswell b KY ca 1831; Richard b KY ca 1833. b. Her husband must have died between abt 1833 and 1840. c. This Smith family must have moved from TN to KY between about 1818 and 1820. d. Tilford's daughter Martha must have been named for his mother Martha. e. Tilford had both a son and a brother named Caswell. Both Tilford and Caswell could be surnames that appear in Tilford's ancestral lines. f. Both of Tilford's parents were born in NC - his mother about 1794 and his father probably earlier than that. g. Nancy was probably "widow Taylor" when she married Tilford Smith. There might be a record of their marriage in Calloway Co, or maybe that of her to her first husband. I haven't had time to look further, but there are 14 Smith households in Calloway Co KY in the 1830 census. Maybe one of them will prove to be yours. It should not take a lot of time to go through them. You'll be looking for the following (at least): Smith, head of house at least age 30-40, but possibly 40-50+ with males: 1 0-5; 1 5-10; 2 10-20; females 1 0-5; 1 5-15; wife 30-40 There are the ones who were in Calloway County in 1830. Of course, he may have been elsewhere in KY that year, but at least you can start searching here: Absolom Andrew Burton Bzel (?-spelling?) David Elias Hstin (?-spelling?) James James Jr. Levi Nancy Needham Silas William A Wish I were having as much success finding my brickwall Smith! His wife was Agnes, a widow in 1840 Owen Co KY, and he was born either KY or VA - that's all I can find so far about him. Happy hunting! Judy Davison ============================================================ From: edith51111@yahoo.com Date: 2006/05/22 Mon AM 12:55:52 EDT To: SMITH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [SMITH] Smith ancestors Could each of you look over your material and see if you have a Tilford Smith/last census located is 1900 Calloway Co. KY, his son is Charlie Hastings Smith or the any one with surname of Bushart. This is my brick wall please help me.