I am working on the Bowling family of southern WV and have them back to Jessie Bowling (ca. 1754-aft. 1815) who supposedly was kidnapped in England, brought to America (possibly to Maryland?), fought in the Revolution, and moved to Virginia (later WV). The only documentation for Jessie I have is a copy of a marriage bond (signed with an X, dated September 1785) to Sarah Robertson (March 1763-aft. 1813). Jessie & Sarah had the following children: Betsy, Dorcas, Nancy, Thomas, Virginia, William, and John. I am descended from John (abt. 1800-abt. 1875) who married Sallie Walker (1805-abt. 1900) and settled at Spanishburg, Mercer Co., VA(WV). I have no idea if this branch has any connection to the Reds, Blues, Greens, Yellows or any other color. I suspect there may be, given the frequency of Jess(i)e, William, John, and Thomas as first names, though this may just be a sign of the times. If Jessie was, indeed, kidnapped from England, any connection would have to come from there. If you have any information tracing back from this point I would appreciate hearing about it. And of course I'll be glad to share anything I have. Lew Bowling lbowling@pop.uky.edu >Lew Bowling >lbowling@pop.uky.edu