In a message dated 12/5/98 7:23:14 AM Central Standard Time, jj@tampabay.rr.com writes: > City directories are a great source for genealogy information I have to second this, and I wonder why you hear so little about them. My grandmother's first husband was named Andrew Straughn, and the fact of her first marriage was a great secret in our family, probably because, as far as I can tell, there was never a legal divorce. Anyway when I began doing research I found a child named Andrew Straughn of the right age in Wilson Co. but had no way to prove he was the one who married my grandmother, even though I was certain he had to be. I traced his family to Nashville and found them in the City Directory in the 1890s. Eventually, I found him living in the same residence as my grandmother's mother, giving me the proof I needed that he was indeed the correct person. Sara Binkley Tarpley