I'm not convinced that George and Betty Bowman are the parents of Mahala Bowman. If Mahala married James Dallas Reynolds in 1872 and listed her age as 30 and dau. of George and Betty Bowman, she would have been born in 1842. Her birth date has been documented as being 1834-1835 in the 1860 and 1870 PCVA Census'. That's a stretch of about 8 years between the above marriage and the census' dates. I've been told to rely more upon information given closest to the date of the event. I also checked every 1850 PCVA Bowman family. I didn't find a Geo and Betty listed in 1850. I did find the only Mahala in 1850 Census in the following household(Southern Dist. Pg 392, #654: Rachel Bowman 50 Galin(?) 20 M Jefferson 10 Malinda ? Mary 17 Mahala 15 This puts her age as the same as the Census' when she was married to John Slaughter and the one after his death. This is also next door to the Harman (Norman) Bowman that Nettie Clifton stated was her parent. Harman(age 55) is listed in that census with Nathan age 15. Who is Rachel? A relative of Harman and Mahala is staying with her? Does anyone have a marriage certificate for John Slaughter and Mahala Bowman listing parents? Any comments? Sherry Crawford dansher@tkdyer.com http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/c/r/a/Sherry-L-Crawford/index.html