I saw Doris Reece's reference to folks who moved to "free land" in Alabama in the 1830's. Several branches of my Hopson family moved to Lauderdale Co Alabama were listed in later census as boatman, and one as a "hunter". I looked at the microfilm of the Lauderdale Co 1850 census, where young Harrod Hopson was listed as a "hunter". The census taker had written "pine, oak and poplar. Game abound such as deer and turkey." Harrod's brother William is listed as a boatman. His census page says "good land but narrow bottoms; subject to overflow." These references were not to my particular relatives but were at the bottom of the regular census page. I've never seen anything like it before. Can anyone tell me about this free land in Alabama? We all know that the chief reason that our pioneer ancestors moved on from where they were born was always free or cheap land. Nancy Cassada Nelson - researching Hopson, Bunch, Wells, Walker, Lewis