Bill -- your message inspired me to check the 1820 census for Stafford Co, VA again. I had originally thought that John Burroughs had left by then, but he's there, indexed as John BOROUGHS. There's also a George BOROUGHS and a Benjamin BRONOUGH (as transcribed by the indexer!)

If your John Burroughs was definitely out of Stafford Co by 1820, he's probably not the same one I'm looking at as a candidate for the husband of a RILEY girl. But I do find the pattern of your family's hearing loss intriguing. It sounds like your family doesn't progress as fast as we do, but the early onset and high frequency aspect is the same, and your family apparently has a dominant trait like ours. Do you have other blood relatives with hearing loss?

Ann Turner