You didn't indicate the date on the letter, or the date of the postmark on the letter. With that date, assuming the letter says that he just died recently, that gives you a good approximation of the date of death so you can look for an obituary in the newspaper. You can find out the name of the nearest newspaper at your local library, in a book published about 1935. Ask your reference librarian for help. That book also lists who has copies of the newspaper. You can borrow microfilm copies of the newspapers on interlibrary loan at your local library. Greenfield, TN appears to be across the south fork of the Obion River in Weakley Co., TN. If you want to know who signed permission for her (Nettie Johnson) to marry, you'll need to write to the Weakley Co., TN courthouse and ask. Most likely it was her father, so that wouldn't give you the name of her mother. Another source for the name of her mother is Nettie Johnson's death certificate. But it might not be accurate and it might say unknown. If Nettie Johnson was married at age 14 in 1878 in Greenfield, TN, then she was born in 1864. Her mother should be listed with the family in the 1870 census, and her parents were probably married in the early 1860's, if she was the oldest child. You say her father was Pleasant Greenberry Johnson and he was born in TN. You can find his birth date (Month and Year) in the 1900 census, and it also tells the birth place (State) of his parents and the number of years he has been married, which will give you the year of his second marriage, and the latest date that his first wife died (assuming they weren't divorced). The family should be listed in the 1880 soundex, because it's unlikely that all of those children you listed could be born by 1870. (The 1880 soundex lists only those families with children under the age of 10.) That (or the 1870 census) would give you birth years for all of the children, and a better estimate of when they married. And the first name of their mother. And maybe some of her relatives were living with the family, which would give you some more clues. The father should be listed with his parents in the 1850 and 1860 census. There is an index for those censuses in TN with all household members listed, so you can find out the names of his parents just by looking in the index. You'll have to go through all of the Johnsons, though, because it's ordered by the name of the head of household. If you want someone to look up the marriage(s) of your ggf, then a message like this would be more efficient: Subj: Marriage Lookup of Pleasant Greenberry Johnson please Pleasant Greenberry Johnson married 1st wife about 1860 perhaps in Weakley Co., TN. Need name of 1st wife and date of marriage. 2nd wife was Mattie, and they were married about (get year from 1900 census). Need wife's full name and date of marriage. On Sat, 25 Sep 1999 17:53:23 -0500 "Vicki" <TnGibson@worldnet.att.net> writes: > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Ruby Beaver <rbeaver@simplynet.net> >To: <TnGibson@worldnet.att.net> >Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 1999 3:51 PM >Subject: P. G Johnson, Flowers Church > > >> I am searching for a ggf and his first wife. He was born Pleasant >> Greenberry Johnson in Tn. I have a letter from his second wife >to our >> family telling of his death at Rutherford in 1905 and he was a >preacher at >> Flowers Church and buried in the church cemetery, Her name was >Mattie but >I >> am searching for first wife the mother of Nettie,Martha Lou Allie, >Harvey >> and Bill. Nettie married at the age of 14 in Greenfield, Tn. >1-27-1878. >> They must have signed for her marriage license. Please can anyone >help me >> locate this information, I have been searching 5 yrs. >> Ruby Beaver rbeaver@simplynet.net >> > > ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.