This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/UiB.2ACI/1306.2 Message Board Post: There are several records at which you will want to look. First, read some explanations regarding the guardian records in Wilson County in an article where I abstracted some guardian records at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnwcogs/wills/guardian.html Nancy JENNINGS is not listed there, but that "list" I abstracted from the Court Minute Book is not a complete list of all Wilson County guardianships. As mentioned there, this list was prepared by the clerk to apparently keep track of those guardianships still continuing in 1832. Since the mention you found stated she had come of age in 1832, that is probably why she was not on this list. Things which you should follow up on, either at the Wilson County Archives, or by ordering the appropriate microfilms to a Family History Center should include: 1. Examine the original entry in the Will and Inventory book for which you found the published abstract. This should include an accounting of money spent. You asked when Nancy JENNINGS was living in the household of Nathan SPARKS. While she MAY have been in his household it is also possible she was not. The main role of the guardian was to watch over the finances and give an account of money due their ward until they came of age. If Nancy's father had died, and her mother was still living, she may have still lived at home. If both parents were deceased, she may have been boarded out to live with what ever person would bid for the least expensive care for her. The account would show who SPARKS paid money to for her living expenses and schooling, or may indicate that she was in his household. The final account may list expenses over several years, and indicate if she was living with different people for different years. Also examine the ORIGINAL Will and Inventory boo! ks individual indexes for earlier mentions regarding her guardianship. The author of the abstracted book you mentioned often only listed the first and/or last mentions of a guardianship that appeared in the Will and Inventory books, and not ALL mentions. 2. There is an index to Wilson County loose County Court records. Examine that to see if the original bond for when Nathan SPARKS was appointed her guardian is listed. This will give you a copy of his original signature, which you can compare with those of other men named Nathan SPARKS, to help you determine if you have the correct one. This will also give the names (signatures) of his security on the bond, which were often relatives or close friends. From the date of that bond, you can go to the appropriate session of the County Court minutes (#3 below). There may also be other loose records regarding her guardianship. 3. Examine the County Court minutes. The WPA did a transcript of those through 1824. After that, you will need to examine the original books. Start with the minutes for 22 Sep. 1832, and see what they may list regarding the case. If through either #2 above or in reading the court minutes you can find when Nathan SPARKS was appointed her guardian, that court entry MAY (but not necessarily) state who she was the daughter of. Rick Saunders http://genealogypro.com/fsaunders.html