This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/nFQ.2ACEB/149.154.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Sorry, I got disconnected. The Matthew Cowden family from Lancaster and Dauphin Cos., PA., was said to have been called "The Black Cowdens," because of their black hair, swarthy skin, etc. They were white, though. It could be that others in the family were classified as FPC in other areas of the country. I know my great grandmother (Cowden) and my grandfather (Lawson) were both black haired and swarthy complexioned - many mistook my grandfather for a Mexican when he was tanned in the summer. My husband is the same way! Back to Thomas & Cattern - the area they lived in was once Mecklenburg Co., NC. Robert (Ist) Cowden and wife Hannah (parents of Robert II Cowden who married Mary Alcorn) owned land in this area. Robert sold some of this land to the Rev. John Elder, who was the pastor of the churches in Lancaster and Dauphin Cos., PA., and was the pastor of the Matthew Cowden family! Indeed, Robert Cowden had three proven brothers, Samuel (of Augusta Co., VA & Mecklenburg Co., NC), William (probably the eldest with Robert the next in line), and Walter (Ist) Cowden. William gave his land to Robert. Robert, Samuel, and Walter all did business together. Samuel and Walter both owed Hannah Cowden money when they died, very closely to one another, so close that their estates were lumped together and divided that way. There is a close connection to these families somewhere, we just haven't found it yet!