Fearless Female - My Brick Wall

In honor of National Women's History Month, I will be following the blogging prompts from The Accidental Genealogist blog. The prompts are interesting and I am truly enjoying this.  Here is day 20.  I have gotten a little behind in the last week so I am trying to go back and catch up.

March 20 — Is there a female ancestor who is your brick wall? Why? List possible sources for finding more information.

My great grandmother, Margaret Jane Barnes, is my brick wall.  She was the mother of my grandfather, James Plummer.  She died before my father was born.  Margaret was born in May, 1831 in Kentucky.  She married Osborn Plummer, before 1850.  They raised eight children, there may have been more who died.  

I haven't been able to find out much about Margaret.  My grandfather's first wife died and Margaret finished raising his three daughters up until she died.  

Margaret lived around Pendleton and Bracken Counties in Kentucky.  My grandfather was the youngest of her children.

I have found Margaret's maiden name listed as Barnes and Burns.  Barnes seems to be on more documents.  I haven't been able to verify her name as Barnes, but my research seems to lean in that direction.  I have found several birth records of her children that list Margaret Barnes and Osborn Plummer.  Osborn's name is Osborn D. Plummer.  He is called Dorsie, Dessie and other versions of that name.

I have found an 1860 Census that has Osborn Plummer and Margaret living with their family and having an Alexander Plummer living with them as a day laborer.  I believe Alexander is a nephew of James.

The 1880 Census with Osborn and Margaret has a Robert Barnes living a couple of doors from them, and Alexander Plumber, age 34, is living with Robert Barnes as a servant.  I am sure this is the same Alexander that had lived with Margaret and Osborn 20 years before.

I really think this Robert Barnes is Margaret's brother.  I have found Robert on previous censuses with his parents, but I haven't been able to find Margaret with him or his parents.  Margaret was already married in 1850 to Osborn.  So, I have not really been able to connect Margaret with either Robert or his parents.  I really think I have found the right family for her, I just haven't found anything that will document that.

I need to spend some time in Kentucky doing research.  I don't know if I can find land records for Robert's father that might list Margaret.  I need to find any records that will help me identify Margaret or Robert that might verify that there is a connection of the two.  I just feel going to the area and researching might help me get further back in this family.  I think one of the hardest parts of the research in this area is the fact that the names are so often misspelled.  I have found that many people that lived in the area were not very well educated.

I would really appreciate any ideas on where to go from here.

1860 Census

1880 Census