I was working on my Akers line today and I came across some contradictory information about my great great great grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Akers. Elizabeth was the wife of William Henry Akers, who was born in Franklin County to Samuel I Akers and Sarah Highly on 20 Jun 1817 and died in the Little River area of Floyd County on 17 Apr 1891. Their Franklin County Marriage Bond indicates that they were married on 26 Jan 1846 in Franklin County. All of the publicly available research (including the Ancestry.com One World Tree and The Akers Family of Franklin County, Virginia, by A.E. Akers) shows the parents of Elizabeth to be Joel O Akers (b. 1792 d. 1876) and Elizabeth Click (b. 1799 d. 1881) of Franklin County. I've found three things, though, that are troublingly inconsistent with this lineage. First, according to the marriage bond for Elizabeth and William Henry Akers, the surety was provided by a James Akers. In most cases, the bride's father is listed as providing surety if he's still living, which Joel certainly was in 1846. Joel did not have any sons named James. Second, the 1840 Census record for Joel Akers shows one female aged 40 to 50 (his wife, Elizabeth) and one female aged 5 to 10. The Elizabeth who married William Henry Akers would have been 15 in 1840. Finally, the 1850 Census, which was the first to list all family members by name, shows an Elizabeth Akers, aged 15, living with Joel and Elizabeth Akers. The Elizabeth who married William Henry Akers was 25 in 1850 and listed in the census with her husband in Floyd County. Has anyone actually seen any first-hand documentation (a marriage license, for instance) that the Elizabeth Akers who married William Henry Akers was actually the daughter of Joel O Akers and Elizabeth Click? I found three men named James Acres (Akers) listed in Franklin County in the 1840 census, but none of them appear to have a daughter in the right age range to be Elizabeth. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan Smith