Thanks for the feedback, Anne. Yes, I am well aware that the suffix "Jr." didn't always distinguish father from son. However, it normally was used when there was another older person of that name in the same vicinity. Since William had still used the "Jr." after he moved to Pittsylvania County, I suspected it was not just to distinguish him from a similarly named uncle or cousin. Who knows? The thing that is really curious is that 1763 Amelia County tax list entry in which a William, William Jr., and John were all adult males in the same household. Since my William was married in or around Amelia County around 1767, I think that there is a strong possibility that he is the William, Jr. in this household. The second William disappeared from Amelia County in 1769, the same year that my William settled in Pittsylvania County. So, whose son might this William be? I had originally thought he was the son of John (b. ca. 1721|1722) who was mentioned in his will, but you (or someone) had indicated that John's son William was born 26 March 1783 and moved to Abbeville County, South Carolina. Are you sure about the 1783 birth date, which is about 30 years after his brother Jeremiah (b. ca. 1753)? And which William Bradshaw was it that married Mary Kirkland in Amelia County on 26 December 1783? My William had left that county in 1769. (His wife Susannah Hutcheson appears on the Henry|Franklin County tax lists in her own name starting in 1784. I don't have any indication of William's death, so maybe they just divorced and he moved back to Amelia County and married someone else.) "ANNE B. MUSSER" wrote: > Hi Mark, > Maybe I can help on the "Jr." part. In those days you didn't have to be a > son to be called "Jr.". If you had an uncle, etc. who lived in the same > place that you did, you were refered to as "Jr." on all documents until the > older with the same name was deceased and then the "Jr." was dropped from > the youngers name. I know this makes things a lot worse for US, but it > seems to have made things a lot easier for them then to have the men > separated in this fashion. This is just anoother reason original sources > are so important. Wills can be a great source for this kind of information. > Unfortunately, I've probably just made your quest a little harder. > Anne > > ==== BRADSHAW Mailing List ==== > > RootsWeb's source of operating income is from voluntary user CONTRIBUTIONS through their RootsWeb Member, Sponsor and Donor subscriptions. > > To voluntarily contribute to RootsWeb, home of the BRADSHAW list and many other genealogy lists and resources, go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/ > > =======================================================