Since we're having a sort of roll call here, I'd like to mention my AKERS line in case anyone else is researching it, or can give any clues as to how it connects with the main Akers families of Virginia and New Jersey. My ancestor THOMAS AKERS died in what is now Livingston Parish, Louisiana, in 1815 at age 44. No one knows where he came from before Louisiana; he first shows up there in 1804, at a time when the Livingston Parish area was still claimed by Spain as part of "West Florida". The rest of Louisiana had been sold by France to the United States the year before. Does anyone have a spare Thomas Akers, born around 1770 or 1771? According to a now-vanished "Thomas Akers Bible", Thomas married Martha MITCHELL (1788-1819) in 1806. They had three children: William (b. 1808), Lucinda (b. 1812), and Peter (b. 1814). Do those names ring any bells for anyone? Lucinda and Peter died as children, but William went on to become one of the founders of the town of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Martha Mitchell was the daughter of Robert Mitchell of Belfast, Maine. Family stories say that Robert moved his family first to Missouri, then to Louisiana, at about the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Some family stories also say that Thomas Akers was from Belfast, Ireland; but I think that was just a confusion with his wife's town of birth in Maine. (I haven't found any Akers in Belfast, Maine. Has anyone else?) There were some other early Akers in Louisiana and nearby Mississippi, who may be related and whose origins might provide a clue to Thomas: 1. Another THOMAS AKERS and his brother? son? ASHAEL AKERS, acquired land in Lauderdale County, Mississippi Territory (now part of Alabama, near the Tennessee border) in 1818. Thomas appears on the 1820 census, and Ashael goes on to about 1850 or so. Ashael married Rhoda PLATT. 2. SAMUEL ACRE registered several land claims with the U.S. government when it took over West Florida from the Spanish in 1810. The land was all in Mobile, present-day Alabama, where Samuel said he had resided since 1798. (These claims are recorded in the _American State Papers_.) 3. JOHN AKERS and GEORGE AKERS appeared in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, where John married Catherine McKOY on 19 May 1818, and George married Mary REED on 19 Jan 1828. Parish records show that both John and George had come from "le Detroit du Canada". (See _Southwest Louisiana Records_ by Father Hebert.) 4. SARAH AKERS married Samuel SMALLWOOD on 11 Nov 1818 in Carroll County, Mississippi. I don't know anything else about this Sarah. Can anyone help me place these folks? -- Mark James <tmark@geocities.com> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/?.refer=text