Thomas Sledd was born in Virginia and died in Kentucky in 1815. He married Sarah/Sally Tinsley in Amherst County, Virginia, in 1798. Some things I’ve learned about research from Thomas:

• minor boundary changes can move your farm to a new county. Thomas’ estate was settled in Bourbon County after his death in 1815. The estate partition in the 1830s was in Nicholas County because the boundary line had changed slightly, putting his farm in a new county.
• get the entire record. Early in my research I requested Thomas’ marriage record and only received the documentation of his marriage. It was years later before I discovered that there were marriage bonds that gave the name of his father and his wife’s father.
• always look for a partition suit or partition deed when your relative owns real property. Sledd’s property was settled fifteen or so years after his death. That partition deed names all his heirs–including married names of his daughters. Those names were not in his probate as they were not married then.

Thomas Sledd is my fifth great-grandfather. You can view my ancestor list on my website.