Hi Ray and List, Here's my tale of dates and places... I have one ancestor who was born in KY, OK and TN. I have a BRADY couple who didn't age at all between 1860 and 1870 but their kids aged perfectly 10 years in the same time frame. I have ancestors whose gender is wrong. My grandma's grandma is listed as a male. I have one ancestor who is listed as a mulatto in 1850 and magically was white by 1860. As far as race...I don't care what their race as long as I find them. So far my family looks like a rainbow. As far as I knew growing up, we were "white". I'm a Heinz 57! Back to records, just dig as much as you can and take it all in context. Mistakes can and often are made. Some were by choice to say one thing or another. Who knows? It's still fun trying to find out about them! Lynn, originally from East TN > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ray Ezell" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 10:49 AM > Subject: [TNMONROE-L] general question to the list > > > > After pouring over various census year pages for a number of my ancestors > over the past several weeks. I have noticed....and I am sure that you have > too in your own situations....that many of my ancestors didnt seem to know > which state they were born in or how old they were from year to year.... > > >