I would welcome some help with Fanny Barnard and her maiden name. Fanny marked an affidavit on 22 Oct 1850 in order to get Reuben's pension from the war of 1812. She says that they were married on the 1? day of December 1799, by Richard Netherland, a magistrate. She also says "that her name before said marriage was Fanny Burton." She notes that Reuben died 6 September 1836. The pension file contains no other evidence of her maiden name. William (x) Ball and James Tunnell testify to their marriage but not her maiden name. It also contains a report of an unsuccessful search for a marriage record. There are two other relevant facts that I know. First, in the affidavit spacing is such that it appears Fanny's last name may have been inserted after the original drafting of the affidavit. My experience is that those who committed these documents to paper often left spaces when they did not understand something rather than clarifying at that moment, thus permitting the person testifying to complete their thought without interruption. I often use the "teeth test" on documents like this; asking whether if Fanny had no teeth, Dalton could be understood by a recorder as Burton. There are no other Burtons listed in District 16 in 1850 (although there are in District 10). There are other Daltons so if the name was unclear Dalton seems the natural entry. Ball and Tunnell both had known Daltons for years, so if Fanny needed help being understood you would have thought they could have lent their assistance. A. Patterson, a Justice of the Peace, took down the affidavit but I can not with confidence identify him in the 1850 census. The other is that the Daltons and the Barnards were very close in Hawkins. Jonathan Barnard took care of James and Aggy Dalton in their old age. Both the Daltons and Barnards came (I believe) from Pittsylvania County, VA. A marriage between the two families would have seemed to naturally create this bond. So, any help on why Fanny may be thought to be a Dalton in the face of this affidavit would be appreciated. -------------------- James F. Klumpp 2130 Skinner Department of Communication University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-7635 Email: jklumpp@umd.edu Voice: 301.405.6520 FAX: 301.314.9471 Website: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jklumpp/home.htm