I don't have ancestry and cannot really answer your questions about it, but I did go to the Barren County GenWeb site located at ftp://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/ky/barren/1850/pg0363a.txt and found the 1850 census. I copied and pasted the whole page in case there were any other family members you might recogize. Are you sure about the date of Nancy's birth? On this page of the census Nancy is 3 and her father appears to be Charles A. and her mother is Virginia if this is the correct Smith family. The names of this Nancy's brother's are almost the same as your Nancy's children so maybe this is her brother and not her father. I would not be so sure her parents moved away in shame - people back then tended to be more tolerant about some things than we are today. The state line also seemed to move a lot so you might check in Tennessee - I checked Smith County for you - check below. There was a Nancy Smith age 11. A lot of the county GenWeb sites have abstracts of the 1850 census posted. Take care and good luck. CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: KY COUNTY: Barren DIVISION: The First Division REEL NO: M432-191 PAGE NO: 367b REFERENCE: Enumerated on the 13th day of Sept 1850 by H. Eubank ========================================================================================================================= LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB ========================================================================================================================= 1 892 916 Shurfee Mary 6 F Tenn 2 892 916 Shurfee Nancy J. 2 F Ky 3 893 917 Elliott William 60 M Farmer 600 Ky X 4 893 917 Elliott Jane 35 F Va X 5 893 917 Elliott Benjamin 16 M Farmer Ky 6 893 917 Elliott Thomas 13 M Ky 7 893 917 Elliott John 10 M Ky 8 893 917 Elliott Ahasuerus 8 M Ky 9 893 917 Elliott Washington 6 M Ky 10 893 917 Elliott James J. 4 M Ky 11 893 917 Elliott Sally 8 F Ky 12 894 918 Britt William 58 M Farmer 350 Va X 13 894 918 Britt Rebecca 51 F Va X 14 894 918 Britt Betsy 32 F Tenn X 15 894 918 Britt William 20 M Farmer Ky 16 894 918 Britt Polly J. 16 F Ky 17 894 918 Britt Margaret 13 F Ky X 18 894 918 Britt Thomas 11 M Ky 19 895 919 Wheeler Obediah 35 M Farmer 200 Ky 20 895 919 Wheeler Sarah 30 F Ky X 21 895 919 Wheeler Nancy J. 9 F Ky X 22 895 919 Wheeler Sarah M. 5 F Ky X 23 895 919 Wheeler Wm. Joseph 3 M Ky 24 896 920 Hawley John 27 M Farmer 250 Tenn 25 896 920 Hawley Mary 20 F Tenn 26 896 920 Hawley Sarah 2 F Tenn 27 897 921 Cable Washington 44 M Farmer 150 Tenn 28 897 921 Cable Jane 34 F Ky 29 897 921 Cable William A. 12 M Ky 30 897 921 Cable Joseph S. 10 M Ky 31 897 921 Cable Thomas M. 5 M Ky 32 897 921 Cable Stephen H. 3 M Ky 33 897 921 Cable Nancy J. 4/12 F Ky 34 898 922 Smith Charles A. 33 M B. Smith 400 Tenn 35 898 922 Smith Virginia 36 F Tenn 36 898 922 Smith George 10 M Tenn 37 898 922 Smith James 8 M Tenn 38 898 922 Smith Sarah A. 6 F Tenn 39 898 922 Smith Calvin 5 M Tenn 40 898 922 Smith Nancy 3 F Tenn 41 898 922 Smith Jerome 1 M Ky 42 899 923 Jones Moses 41 M Farmer Ky http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/tn/smith/1850/pg0273a.txt CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: TN COUNTY: Smith DIVISION: N of C & E of C F Rivers REEL NO: M432-896 PAGE NO: 280a REFERENCE: Enumerated Oct 16th by A. S. Watkins ==================================================================================================================================== LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB REMARKS ==================================================================================================================================== 2 950 950 Porter Colbert 48 M . Farmer 675 VA . . . . Handwritten page 559 3 950 950 Porter Easter 50 F . . . Ten . . . . . 4 950 950 Porter William 21 M . Farmer . Ten . X . . . 5 950 950 Porter Matilda 18 F . . . Ten . X . . . 6 950 950 Porter Thomas 17 M . . . Ten . X . . . 7 950 950 Porter Susan 14 F . . . Ten . X . . . 8 950 950 Porter Edward 11 M . . . Ten . X . . . 9 950 950 Porter Sarah 8 F . . . Ten . X . . . 10 951 951 Bullou Lonzo D. 41 M . Farmer 1,500 Ten . . . . . 11 951 951 Bullou Mary 42 F . . . NC . . . . . 12 951 951 Bullou Wm A. 19 M . Farmer . Ten . X . . . 13 951 951 Bullou James E. 18 M . Farmer . Ten . . . . . 14 951 951 Bullou Leonidas 17 M . Farmer . Ten . X . . . 15 951 951 Bullou Diognes 14 M . . . Ten . X . . . 16 951 951 Bullou Julia A. 14 F . . . Ten . X . . . 17 951 951 Bullou Anthony J. 12 M . . . Ten . X . . . 18 951 951 Bullou Margaret E. 9 F . . . Ten . X . . . 19 951 951 Bullou Mary B. 7 F . . . Ten . X . . . 20 951 951 Bullou Albert C. 6 M . . . Ten . X . . . 21 951 951 Bullou Rufus C. 2 M . . . Ten . . . . . 22 952 952 Brice Wm L. 25 M . Farmer . Ten . . . . . 23 952 952 Brice Emily 20 F . . . Ten . . . . . 24 953 953 Herod Peter 63 M . M. D. 3,560 Va . . . . . 25 953 953 Herod Rebecca 63 F . . . NC . . . . . 26 954 954 Sloane Josiah 36 M . Farmer 700 Ten . . . . . 27 954 954 Sloane Mary 23 F . . . Ten . . . . . 28 954 954 Sloane Colbert 3 M . . . Ten . . . . . 29 954 954 Sloane Easter 4/12 F . . . Ten . . . . . 30 955 955 Smith Abel 44 M . Farmer 450 NC . . . . . 31 955 955 Smith Martha 44 F . . . NC . . X . . 32 955 955 Smith Obadiah 21 M . Farmer . Ten . X . . . 33 955 955 Smith Elizabeth 19 F . . . Ten . X . . . 34 955 955 Smith Dan'l J. 17 M . Farmer . Ten . X . . . 35 955 955 Smith Polly E. 15 F . . . Ten . X . . . 36 955 955 Smith Edmond S. 13 M . . . Ten . X . . . 37 955 955 Smith Nancy 11 F . . . Ten . X . . . 38 955 955 Smith Macom C. 10 M . . . Ten . X . . . 39 955 955 Smith Wm A. 7 M . . . Ten . X . . . 40 955 955 Smith Louisa H. 5 F . . . Ten . . . . . 41 955 955 Smith Thomas I. 5 M . . . Ten . . . . . > > Subject: > Re: SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY-D Digest V06 #145 > From: > JESmith8938@aol.com > Date: > Tue, 13 Jun 2006 19:37:05 EDT > To: > SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY-L@rootsweb.com > > To: > SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY-L@rootsweb.com > > >Someone have mercy on me............I joined Ancestry.Com, but got the >cheaper subscription. I can look up census as far back as 1860. I think there >are more options in the more expensive subscription. My great grandmother >was Nancy A. Smith born in 1839 Barren County. She died in 1911, I think. Her >parents were ( I think) are Allen and Viola "Franklin" Smith...........Is >there any way to see if Nancy is with her parents somewhere in the older >census? Nancy was never married and had four sons, Jim, Charles-1860, John-1873 >and George-1880. I have found Nancy a few times in Metcalfe County, but due to > the shame of having these children out of wed-lock, I feel her parents left >the area..............I have been up against a brick wall on this for >years!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > >