#52 Ancestors Week 26 - Halfway

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #26 and the suggested theme is HALFWAY.  I am going to highlight my 3rd great grandfather Abner Adkins. I wrote about his son Nelson Adkins several weeks ago. There is a lot of information about Nelson and his family. Just the opposite is true of his father. It would be optimistic to say that have completed half of my research on Abner.

What I know about Abner:

• Abner's parents are Thomas and Rutha (Lynch) Adkins. 
• He was the eighth of nine children and born about 1806.
• Abner was with his parents in the 1810 census of Whitley County, Kentucky where Thomas has received a land grant. 
• Abner was married to Malinda Mahan on 31 October 1824 in Whitley, Kentucky.
• By 1830, he has three children and the family is living in Jackson County, Missouri. According to the census he is living between his brothers, Jesse and Luke and their families.  It looks like the three youngest brothers have made a big move together.

What I don't know:

• Where he was born - it could be South Carolina or Kentucky
• Where was he in 1820.
• Why did the three brothers move to Missouri
• What happened to Abner after 1830

What I know about Abner's wife Malinda Mahan:

• Malinda was born in 1804 to Thomas and Naomi Cox Mahan
• She was with Abner in 1830 with their children in Missouri
• In 1850 she is head of household and living in Daviess County, Indiana, with her two youngest children.
• In 1850 her older sons Nelson and Christopher are living on either side of Malinda with their families in Indiana.

What I don't know about Malinda Mahan Adkins:

• Where was she in 1820 and 1840.
• When did she die

Abner's brother Luke returned to Whitley County, Kentucky and is listed there in the 1850 and 1860 census.  His brother Jesse also disappears after 1830.

I admit that I got very frustrated many years ago when I tried to research Abner.  I'm sure I only did a halfway decent job of looking for them. I'm gong to take this opportunity to jump back in and try to find out more about Abner.  The plan is to research his children and brothers to see if I can get a hint about what happened to him.