I cannot find anything about the sudden death of Michael West in July 1862 in Breckinridge, northeast Caldwell County. Evidently, it apparently wasn't in newspapers or in the old Caldwell County histories, and I have no such event listed in my event cards. Sorry. There was a lot happening across that region in July 1862 to the point that the killing of one man may have been obscured by other violence and warfare nearby.

Regarding your not finding Jim Ryder in the 1860 census, I discovered over time that many of the men who later became guerrillas were somehow excluded from the 1860 census. Young, single men were evidently very difficult to detect or interview by census takers, as they didn't always have permanent addresses and kept busy with a variety of activities. Many of them enjoyed the freedom of being away from family and took a room over a store or a back room in some business and didn't care if they received mail or not as their families would let them know if something came to the family home. Call it a "will-of-the-wisp" lifestyle before they found the young lady of their hopes and settled down.

Further, the census was taken between April and August of most census years which is well before Jim Ryder's marriage October 2, 1860. Census-takers were able to find young couples a lot easier than single young men.

Bruce Nichols