Internet Archives and Cluster Research

I just downloaded the 1830 and 1840 census for Fountain County, Indiana, from the Internet Archive. The ability to do so is very helpful.  Ancestry and Familysearch don't allow me to just scroll through a county census as I was used to doing at the Pittsfield branch of NARA.  It can be very informative. 

I'm still trying to find out where Phebe Cooper's father John came from. It's such a common name, especially in the southeast, that I really need more information to go any farther. Not that the census would be helpful in that. I just want to see if her father brought his family to Indiana.

Phebe Jane Cooper was born 28 Jan 1816 in Kentucky.  She married Jesse David Runyan 1 Jan 1835 in Fountain County, Indiana.   The couple moved to Vermillion County around 1839, where they remained.  Both are buried in Spangler Cemetery.  Their children were:

1. Elizabeth Runyan was born about 1836 in , , IN, USA.
2. Mary Jane Runyan, born 17 Aug 1840; married Jesse Hise, 13 Dec 1859, , Vermillion Co., IN, USA; married D. L. Humphreys, 25 Sep 1870, , Vermillion Co., IN, USA.  (These are my ancestors.)
3. John Runyan was born about 1843 in , , IN, USA.
4. Harrison Runyan, born abt 1845, , , IN, USA.
5. James Runyan was born about 1847.
6. William Henry Runyan was born about 1850 in , , IN, USA.
7. Louis F. Runyan was born about 1852 in , , IN, USA.
8. Franklin Runyan was born about 1852.
9. Charles Runyan was born about 1856 in , , IN, USA.
10.  Emma Runyan was born about 1858 in , , IN, USA.
11. Jesse Runyan was born about 1863 in , , IN, USA.

It is Jesse and Phebe's daughter Mary Jane that I'm descended from.  Since she and her mother both have the middle name Jane, I'd say it was the first name of a woman in the Cooper family.

I almost forgot an important technique. It can be very rewarding to do cluster genealogy, to study other members of the family. It can lead you to other sources of information that will ultimately provide the information you're looking for.