John A. Bates and his wife Elizabeth Davis Bates do not seem to be listed in any of the books published regarding Bedford County, TN records. They are on the 1840 census. Their neighbors indicate that they either lived in District 9, which joined the Rutherford County border just west of the center of the county or they may have actually lived in Rutherford County. Some of John A. Bates' neighbors in that census never lived in Bedford County. It appears the Bedford Co census taker dipped into Rutherford County a bit. The neighborhood was around Middleton (now Midland) and was near the Rutherford County family of Jeremiah Odle and Patsy Freeman. It was not near the Coffee County border and so you can probably be assured that they moved between 1840 and 1850. Have you found the John A. Bates family in 1830? I cannot find them in Middle TN, but I don't have the East TN census. Carolyn Odle Smotherman In a message dated 1/9/03 11:41:06 AM, lacenter@attbi.com writes: << Hi, I am looking for a a.. cemetery listing b.. will/probate c.. obituary for my ggg-grandfather John A. BATES (b. abt. 1794 in VA; died 1868 in Coffee Co. TN) and his wife Elizabeth (DAVIS) BATES (b. abt. 1796 in SC; died 1869). They lived in both Bedford Co. and Coffee Co., so I am looking in both counties. All of their 11 children were born in TN. Their children were a.. Jasper M. (b. 24 July 1825 in ? Co. TN; d. 1889 in AR) (married in Rutherford Co. TN in 1844 Mary A. ODLE (b. 1825 in TN; d. 1900 in AR) b.. Altheia (b. abt. 1827 in TN; d. bef. 1889) c.. John N. (b. 25 Feb 1829 in Bedford Co. TN) (married Harriet L. Oldfield (b. 11 Nov. 1827 in TN; d. 9 feb 1897), daughter of Charles Oldfield) d.. Frances Elmanda (b. abt. 1831 in TN) married J. Hickerson (b. ?; d. bef. 1889) e.. Rebecca A. (b. abt. 1833 in TN; d. before 1889) f.. Louisa J. (b. abt. 1835 in TN) (married Alex Oldfield Jasper M. Bates' (my gg-grandfather's) children were (they were born in TN) a.. Martha Elizabeth Bates (b. 20 Sept 1845 in TN; d. 28 Mar 1934 in AR) (married Milton Franklin Billingsley (b. 27 Mar 1837 in AR; d 28 Aug 1911 in AR) b.. Francis L. Bates (female) (b. 9 Oct 1847) c.. Nancy A. Bates (b. 15 June 1850; d. 19 Feb 1871) (married Nathan Arnold d.. Zachariah T. (b. 15 Sept 1852) e.. John G. (b. 15 Jan 1855) f.. Margaret L. (b. 27 Nov 1856) g.. Jeremiah (b. 30 Oct 1858) h.. Moses H. (b. 11 July 1861; d. 29 Aug 1863) i.. Newton R. (b. 3 Dec 1863) j.. Mary E. (b. 2 May 1866) k.. Hariet D. (b. 10 Sept 1868)