There were three known "Josephs" born 1803 - 1809 ... Number One Joseph - son of Benjamin in Washington/Sullivan County ... Forget this one .. HE WAS NEVER MARRIED AND PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE JACKSON COUNTY WAS. Just for documention purposes ... 1 Sep 1809 to 16 Nov 1885 ... ok ?????? Number Two Joseph - probably the son of Margaret McKaughan and her husband - the "mystery" Joseph Birdwell... Number Two Joseph was born 13 Mar 1803 and died 12 Aug 1870 in Clay County, TN .... he was married to an Elizabeth Jane (we think her maiden name was Thackston) she was born 12 Mar 1809 and died 14 Nov 1884 in Clay County TN ... Number Two Joseph and Jane were the parents of: 1. Temple - born in ALABAMA 12 Dec 1827 2. Elizabeth - born in ALABAMA 9 Oct 1829 Weldon and I have a theory about Joseph number two and his first two children ,,,, why were they born in Alabama within a short time frame of William Birdwell being hanged => was that William Number Two Joseph's father, and not "Joseph Birdwell" as was claimed by Joab Brooks sometime in the 1870s in Arkansas ?? Could Joab, as a very old man, have confused his aunt Margaret McKaughan's husband as a Joseph instead of a William >>> ??? <<< ... Weldon and I think so, 3. Margaret - born in TN 9 Jan 1832 4. Phoebe Jane - born in TN 9 Sep 1833 5. Mariah - born in TN 5 May 1835 6. George W. - born in TN 20 Feb 1836 7. Joseph - born in TN 18 Mar 1839 8. Mary A. - born in TN 25 Apr 1841 9. William - born in TN 5 Apr 1844 10 Benjamin F. - born in TN 18 May 1846 11 Blake Thackston - born in TN 4 Jan 1849 Temple married Amanda Thackston - Elizabeth married George Long - George W. married a woman named Eliza A. - Joseph married a woman name Surelda - William married a woman named Nancy (Canzida??) - Benjamin F. married Mary A. Gaines and Blake Thackston Birdwell married a woman named S.B, Keith ....................... Number Three Joseph ... born about 1809 and died between 1870 and 1880 We do not know for sure who is the father of this Joseph ... Best "guess" has it as William Birdwell (the one born in 1772 and was the son of old George - this William was believed to have lived everywhere from Kingsport to Nashville) and Betsey Lefever - One other point ==>> this Betsy LeFever Birdwell is NOT RACHEL BIRDWELL .... ok ??? Number Three Joseph married Elizabeth Chaffin. Elizabeth is buried in Robertson County - She was born 11 Apr 1811 and died 7 Sep 1901 <== those dates are on her tombstone .... I have never said any of these Josephs had a middle intial of "J or C" On Birdtracks, using the "BIRDWELL index", Joseph C. or J. Birdwell is confused with the Number Three Joseph (see my rant and rave above) Number one was not married to Elizabeth Chaffin - Number three was. I also think some of the children on that same page as belonging to William and Betsy Birdwell are wrong - but, I can not prove it yet ... I have given Rose Birdwell what I belive to be is the family of William and Betsy LeFever Birdwell and their descendants as "proven by me to date" - she is in the process of putting it up on Birdtracks ... Jerry