Those speculating about Merriwether Smith in Virginia may get some help [or continued errors] with a google.com search. search terms merriwether [or variant spelling] smith + virginia Also, Polly is a nickname for Mary. Does that help? Many of us have no maiden names for our ladies. Many a genealogist makes a good fee by lecturing at conferences about how to find ladies' maiden names. Sometimes their techniques work, and other times the lecture is worth listening to, but in many cases does not work with the techniques mentioned. Sometimes it helps to check out the surnames of the neighbors and the names of their daughters--and check their wills, probates, deeds of gift, etc. (I find deed books in some cases help me find maiden names for ladies.) The daughters may get a deed of gift of a slave--called personalty in some deed indexes. If you are near a Virginia courthouse or can order a film of a deed index of, say, Virginia, Kentucky [a sister sate of Virginia] or North Carolina, get hold of a deed index, either grantee or grantor. After you find your surname in the index: Look in the last column of the index for words like deed of gift, or, in some cases, as later in Kentucky, commissioners deeds. Most of the time, you will find that because deed indexes are used all the time by title searchers, the indexes have been typed and alphabetized, and, in many cases, are easy to read, even on microfilm. Good luck! E.W.Wallace ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.