One place to look for apprentices is "Tennessee's Forgotten Children" Two editions for east and west. Gives an intensive list of people who agreed to accept children as apprentices in many type businesses....which is how most learned a trade. Another issue that arises with this is the term 'orphan'. Didn't always mean both parents were deceased...sometimes the father was deceased and mom had to send the children to other places. Joyce Gaston Reece, Secretary Friends of the Archives Historical & Preservation Society Monroe County, TN www.rootsweb.com/~tnfahps