Hi All, I am new to this list, but not to RootsWeb, having subscribed to various lists for many years. However, this list holds a difference for me, as I have subscribed to it in pursuit of my biological ancestors, where previous subscriptions have been in search of my adoptive lines. My biological Great Great Grandfather was Robert Edward Lee BOWDEN, b 12 Jan 1864 in West Virginia, m Florence HUNTER 12 Mar 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio, d 9 Oct 1906. I am seeking confirmation that Robert E.L. BOWDEN's father was Elias BOWDEN, b about 1820 in Virginia. I have reason to believe that he may have been born after 1823 in Isle of Wight, Virginia, but have been unable to make a firm connection. If any of you can help confirm/deny this connection, or better still, can confirm with documented sources, I would very much like to hear from you and know of those sources. This search has only just begun for me. I was adopted at six months of age, am now 63, and researched my adoptive lines very successfully for nearly 40 years. My search for my birth mother began about 25 years ago, with the encouragement of my adoptive Mom, but with little to go on but my biological Mother's name and age on the date of my birth, along with a few details, limited due to sealed adoption records. Postings with various adoption registries, etc. proved fruitless, and for a time I even searched for the wrong person, who happened to have the same names and place of residence, but who was a few years too old to fit the information I had. When the 1930 census was released I found a family whose daughter perfectly matched what I knew of my Mother, and I felt that I was finally on the right track, but after more than sixty years I had no idea where she might be then, what her married name might be, or whether she was still alive. Last August, while searching RootsWeb on my lunch break, as I had many, many times before, I discovered a listing about a baby that could only be myself, along with information that only a member of my birth family could know. My heart stood still as I read that information over, and over. An e-mail to the lady who posted that information resulted her phoning me the next evening, and, after a few minutes of polite exchanges she told me, "John, I'm your sister." That literally took my breath away, but when I recovered, Diane told me that our Mother was alive!, and that I had a brother, Norm, that I never knew about! This all brings tears to my eyes every time I retell the story, and it doesn't help that I'm writing this while listening to some of the most beautiful violin music ever recorded (/Song to the Moon/, by Antonin Dvorák, played by Joshua Bell). <G> I'm happy to say that I only live a day's drive from Mom, Diane and Norm, and that joyful reunions with all of them took place soon after that phone call. Since then there have been an exchange of additional visits, phone calls, e-mails, packages, etc. Now my sister, Diane, and I are actively pursuing our family together. Happily Diane is an accomplished researcher, and we have divided up the various lines of interest between the two of us, with the BOWDEN line falling to me. So if I can enlist your help with our search that would make us very happy. Believe me, I can recognize happiness when I experience it. After all, I have two Moms! All the best, John Zimmerman Mesa, Arizona