This is a tough one. They could be the same family. If the question was not posed correctly then in one census they could have been asked "Where did you come from?" as opposed to "Where were you born?" He could have been "born" in VA but moved to TN from NC and "came from" NC would make sense. I can't see Abraham aging only 3 years, but it sometimes happens that ages were also confused. He may have answered the questions one year and she the next year. There could be many reasons for the differences, and the obvious one would be that they are 2 different households. I believe they moved on to AR? Has that state been checked thoroughly for Abraham in 1860? Could his name be misspelled? Tina Hall SURGENER list manager -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 2:49 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SURGENER-L] 1850 Whitley Co., KY I just looked at the 1860 Knox Co., KY, census for Abraham Surgener. The two (1850 and 1860) are so different, are they TWO different Abrahams as Joyce suggested, or are ages very wrong on one or the other and one was using first names and the other middle names? They are both below for comparison. Ruby .................... 1850 Dist. No. 2, Whitley, KY, p:424 (M432 #222) Fam 515/515 SURGENOR, Abraham, 43, farmer, $175, NC, cannot read/write Nancy, 41, NC, cannot read/write Susan, 16, KY, attended school w/in yr Malinda, 14, KY, ditto Nathan, 11, KY, ditto Rachael, 9, KY, ditto Isaiah, 6, KY, ditto David, 4, KY -------------------------------- 1860 Paynes Dist., Knox Co., KY, p:30 (M432 #380) [Also: www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ky/knox/census/1860/0030.gif] SURGEONER, ABRAHAM, 46 - farmer - VA Seala, 44, TN Lucinda, 23, KY Malinda, 22, KY David, 20, KY Koziha, 18, KY William, 16, KY Susan, 14, KY Stephen, 12, KY Mary Jane, 10, KY Robert, 8, KY