It could be that part of the answer to your Thurman/Barber question is in the 1850 census of Pittsylvania County which is available online now. There are a couple of families of Thurmans on page 189, and right next door is a Robert Barber and his wife Rachel and three children, and next door to him, on page 189b, is Mathew Barber and his wife Susan and six children. Hope this is the right family. Virginia Baxter