Dear fellow Grainger County researchers, I am getting ready to post my findings re Baxter (Backster) Ivy's and sons and stepsons to another list I am on (actually the ONLY other list I am, on since I was tossed off of a couple of my lists when softhome was experiencing problems. Since I had no time to participate in lists at the time anyway, I didn't re-subscribe to these lists. This will only include research into the families of Baxter's sons and stepsons since I have once again gone down in defeat before the Nancy Ivys (Iveys). The Nancys are like "dragon's teeth" no sooner do I solve one (or think I have solved one) than another one springs up. For some reason I mentioned Baxter's will on a list I am on, Ivey-Kin, and some researchers were interested (there is actually a Vardamn, Sr. descendent on this list. I haven't encountered a Vardaman researcher in many a year). It occurred to me that I might actually USE some of these online census images that I have subscribed to for several years to find Baxter's sons and stepsons. Since William Western and David Ivy were living in Indiana, I determined that the Elisha Ivy living in Indiana was more likely to be Baxter's son than the Elisha Ivy in Missouri (the Vardaman researcher says the Elisha in Missouri is Vardaman, Sr.'s son so I need to go and print this household off, too.) I was unable to locate Baxter's son "Ezra" Ivy no matter how many searches I tied. Then it occurred to me to search on "Ivy" in Indiana. In addition to David and Elisha a "Zera" Ivy popped up. I sat there and looked at "Zera" for awhile and then wondered whether I had dyslexia??? or perhaps the WPA transcriber had dyslexia?? (I was working with an old transcription of the loose wills from the WPA transcriptions that I did many years ago. Should I locate this old film and take it to my neighbor's and see if it actually says EZRA??) Light dawned... Baxter's youngest son was named for "ZERA" Magee!!! Zera was one of the executor's named in Baxter's will. I lost Zera Ivy after 1850. I have so far NOT found his family in 1860, however, a search of the census index turned up a "Zara" Ivy born circa 1851 in Ottawa County, Kansas in 1870. I have no idea what happened to the first Zera Ivy, but "Zara" Ivy was listed in the household of his mother, Vincintia Blake Ivy, on the 1870 Ottawa County, Kanssas. I really THOUGHT I had searched on Vincintia Ivy on the grounds that "Vincintia" like "Zera was not an "everyday" name. Anyway I am just sitting here thinking that genealogy would be so much EASIER if all the families we are researching had JUST given their children names like Zera!!! Gail