Patti, Sorry I don't have any connection info for you - I'm also a descendent of a Jefferson County Bates family that has driven me fits, so I understand your frustration. Considering there weren't too many Bates in that sparse area at that time, seems plausible that we're connected somehow. My ancestors were Samuel Bates and Samuel Bates Jr, who had migrated to Houndsfield, Jefferson County NY in the fall of 1802, although Samuel Bates Jr evidently was there in the summer of 1801 to get land and build a house. Previously, they had lived in Brimsfield, Hampden Co, MA - I'm still looking for the parents of Samuel's father, George Bates (b. about 1709; m Rebecca Dick or Dix Dec 6, 1735 in Brimfield). Samuel Jr's children were Almira, Merrick, Asa, and Mary, born between 1801 and 1811... I descended thru Almira. Samuel Sr's children, many of whom probably also moved to Jefferson County, were Chloe, Rufus, Moses, Eunice, Samuel, and Kezia, all born between 1763 and 1775 in Brimfield.... I don't have info on children of Samuel Sr, so could be a possibility that Nelson descended from one of them. One of Merrick's children, Chauncey (b. 1825) moved to Crocker, Iowa. Good hunting, Wayne Olsen Bonney Lake, WA 73732.115@compuserve.com