The lightbulb just came on, this is in addition to the posting I just submitted: Perhaps Thomas TOTTEN's (1819?-1881) date of immigration to Canada can be narrowed down a little further: his 1881 death record lists his parents as James & Ann TOTTEN residing in Ireland, which suggests that he was old enough to immigrate without them; then, assuming a minimum age of 13 would narrow down Thomas's immigration to Canada to between 1833 and 1843. I should also mention a little more about his future wife Sarah SPROAT (1820-1906): she was quite independent and business-minded, possibly having business/shipping ties with SPROATs in Scotland. For example, in the 1870 Michigan census, they are living in a tiny village; but one of the daughters is keeping house, while Sarah's occupation is listed as "Grocery" and her net worth is more than twice that of her husband (a farmer). This was quite unusual back then! She was definitely the Scotch in my Scots-Irish background, but I have as yet been unable to connect them with the prominent SPROATs of Scotland (there was a Robert SPROAT who in the 1860's I believe built & sent ships out of Scotland to Australia). Tim Totten Lansing, Michigan, USA