I was just working on THOMPSON, and I decided to try and find William Henry Harrison THOMPSON (b. 20 Nov 1840 in Paris, Monroe Co., MO, son of Thomas THOMPSON) in the 1870 census. We know he was with his parents in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, then, in the 1880 census, he shows up living with his half-brother, Allen W. THOMPSON, in Mendocino Co., CA. In 1880, William is age 39, unmarried, and without children. Needless to say, there are many William THOMPSONs in the 1870 CA census (55, to be exact), and I haven't faced, yet, that I may have to check them all <groan>, but I did check the two most likely ones: the one in Sonoma Co. and the one in Mendocino Co. The one in Sonoma Co. is age 49 and born in KY, so he is not remotely "our" William; however, the one in Mendocino Co. may be. In the 1870 census of Anderson Twp., Mendocino Co., CA (p. 151B), we find: Thompson William 27 M Labourer 1500 Missouri ________ Julia 26 F Keeping House Iowa That's all, no children. William's age is off by two years (he should be 29), but we've all seen worse errors in the census. What we need is the marriage record and/or some other record from Mendocino Co. to confirm or reject whether this is "our" William. Just FYI. If you happen to be in a place where you have access to Mendocino records, please give a look-see. My search of Mendocino records will have to wait til I get back to California. Diana