Kathie, It sure COULD be our Thomas, but who knows? I have not searched NC, IL yet. I'm concentrating in LA, MS, GA, AL and SC..... so far. We KNOW the following about our Thomas S. Richardson: The middle initial of "S" supposedly stood for Simon (sp?) but I've never seen ANY proof of that.... could have been anything - the possibilities are endless! He was born 11 October, 1816. And that birthdate is on his headstone at Bennett Cemetery in Apple Springs. He always said he was born in Charleston, SC but in all these years, we've never found a trail there. In the 1860 Trinity County, TX census he is listed as being born in GA, BUT the Benjamin F. Rasberry family is living with him and one of them could have answered the census questions. We recently found Thomas Richardson in 1850. He was living in Rankin County, MS, working as a laborer, said he was born in SC and was living with the F.H.C. Dent family. And with all the other factors involved, I'm sure this is our Thomas. In fact, positive it's him. I haven't a clue who Thomas Richardson's parents were. Nor do I have a clue of any of his brothers and sisters. The one and only GOOD clue I have is that when he married and had children they were named: James R, John B, William Thomas, Sarah Elizabeth, Jacob Francis, Wood R. and George W. If my Thomas followed the patterns of the times (big if) in naming his children, that would mean Thomas had father, brother, grandfather, etc. with the same names of the male children. The one daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Richardson was named after her mother and Thomas' wife, Sarah Elizabeth Parker. And Thomas positively was in Trinity County, TX in 1853 with some of the other families from Rankin County, MS. And he stayed there for the rest of his life and all the children pretty much stayed around there too. Amy McCroskie Denver, CO