My brickwalls are my g-g-g grandparents, Pleasant Barber and Judith Hunter.

I know them to have been married in Morgan County, Illinois on 3 April 1832. Judith was 33 years old, and I believe that she may have been married once before. Pleasant Barber was about 30 at the time of their marriage.

The 1830 census for Morgan County shows Judith Hunter as a head of household, with 1 male 30-40 years, 1 male 40-50 years, 2 female 20-30 years, and 1 female 60-70 years. Might be my gran...dunno for sure tho.

I have a land deed that states that Pleasant Barber y. wife sold land to Robert Vanbebber on 4 June 1838 on Greene County. At the end of the land description, are their "marks", and then an addition stating that the JP questioned Judith aside and apart from her husband and to make a long sentence shorter, agreed to relinquish all "right to dower".
My questions would be these:
Does that last part mean that the land was originally Judith's, used as a dowry? If so, is there a way to find out who owned the land before she did?

I'm trying to find the parents of Judith, (and Pleasant too). She was born in Kentucky, and I believe had a male relative named "Coladon Hunter", possibly a brother? My reasoning for this is that there is a Coladon Hunter living with his son, Edward Hunter in Morgan County in the 1850 census. Judith and Pleasant named their first born son "James Coladon Barber".

Am I way off track here? I feel pretty confused as to where to look next for information on this couple...Does anyone have advice for me as to where I can look next to try to find clues as to their parent's identities?

Early Morgan Co. IL land grants included those to Elizabeth Hunter 1825; Colladon Hunter 1830; Edward Hunter 1830; and Francis Hunter 1839, so these persons are some possibilities for connections to your Judith Hunter who married Pleasant Barber. Re the 1830 Morgan Co. census --Judith Hunter, listed as head of household, would likely be the 60-70 year old woman in that household and not the younger Judith whom you seek. She might, however, have had a daughter or granddaughter with the same name living in or near her household. (Be aware that some parts of 1830 Morgan Co. IL were called Scott Co. in 1840 and Greene Co. IL by the 1850 census.)

I am a professional genealogist who works often with land records. Judith "relinquishing her dower" when the deed was recorded does not mean she owned the land before her husband did. The relinquishment was something most married men who owned land and wanted to sell it had to aquire; it has to do with a widow's rights to a certain amount of her husband's land if he died.

I agree with the earlier reply that the Judith you found in the census in 1830 was probably the older woman in the household and possibly your Judith's name sake.

I would suggest checking probates in Morgan of the Hunter's you believe might be her parents, to see if she is named as an heir. Same with deeds--check deeds with administrators of Hunter estates as the grantors. A deed may list all the children of the deceased.

I think you are on-track with the name Coladon. It is unusual enough that there is probably a strong family connection between James Coladon Barber and the Coladon Hunter you found. Remember that there may have been more than one, for instance a son named Coladon Hunter and a father or grandfather with the same name. It may be that Coladon was the maiden name of one of the women in the family a ways back.

Good luck!