Many men looked for wives close to where they lived for marriage in the
1700/1800s. If you have (or even don't have) the wife's maiden name, there  are
ways to find her family. Personal Property and Land Tax  lists many times give
the dates the tax accessor visited people,  indicating they lived close to each
other. Census records, if not alphabetical,  list homes visited by household
#, indicating the persons lived close to each  other. With a list of
neighbors, one can go to rootsweb/lds/etc. and search for  various families that lived
close to the husband.

Another way to locate neighbors, and also give you the location in the
County where your Family lived, is in the County Road Order Books. There is  a
searchable (look for the binocular icon) listing for Albemarle Co. from 1786 -
1816 online at http:// www.
virginiadot.org/VTRC/main/online_reports/pdf/76-r27.pdf (if you copy and paste  this link, close the gap between // and www).
After finding the name of a  creek, mountain, trail, etc. and a list of the
families in the vicinity, go  to http:// satelliteviews.com (close the gap between
// and satelliteviews)  and locate the feature there on a interactive google
map/satellite view.

Best wishes, Tim Spradling

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