We often encounter family legends that have been passed down through the generations which are difficult to confirm with objective evidence. I have such a problem with John BOWDON of Granville Co, NC, son of William and Elizabeth BOWDOWN of Granville. A distant relative (J Walter Allen) who was an ardent genealogist proclaimed this family to be descended from the BOWDOIN family of Virginia (previously of Massachusetts and La Rochelle, France). Accordingly he spelled the name BOWDOIN, and I find many descendants of William and Elizabeth who have followed that spelling and implicitly, if not explicitly, that line of descent. As a descendant of John BOWDON I would be delighted to incorporate the BOWDOIN name and history in our family lineage. My problem is the lack of supporting evidence. (1) Allen never in any of his published articles or other writing that I have seen revealed the basis for his conclusion. (2) None of the original documents mentioning William BOWDOWN and his family used the BOWDOIN spelling. (3) Neither Allen nor anyone else has defined how William BOWDOWN fit into the known descendants of Jean BOWDOIN of Virginia as clained. (One descendant has conjectured that William BOWDOWN's name might have been John William BOWDOIN and thus the John BOWDOIN who was a son of Jean BOWDOIN. I know of no evidence to support this theory.) (4) In my opinion my cousin J Walter Allen was an unreliable writer on genealogical matters. In quoting from a Bowden will he spelled the name BOWDOIN although that spelling does not appear in the will. He also claimed that John BOWDON's wife, Judith, was a FARRAR, daughter of William FARRAR. Here again he never to my knowledge revealed any source for this allegation. There is a marriage bond in Granville Co for Judith FARRAR and Jesse HAYS, and I have found no other Judith FARRAR in the time period who could have been the wife of John BOWDON. In short, I believe Allen invented family con- nections that cannot be supported by documentary evidence. I'd be happy to be proved wrong, but I'll need more than Allen's unsubstantiated claims. Tom (rootsnva@aol.com)