Hi Doug, I was going over old replys and I saw your last entry, I also, have come to the conclusion that his name was Abner, because of the marriage record for James Monroe Rickman and the fact that he list his father as Abner Rickman, and that does trump a death certificate, because that information is only as good as the persons knowledge of the family, and a lot of times they are wrong. I was able to look at a 1820, census record for free people of color in Tennessee and it has a Abner along with three or four other Rickman's listed, they may be brothers, I believe it listed heads of household. Thank you for your response. Sheila