This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: JONES MCCLURE Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Fc.2ADI/1192.1.1 Message Board Post: Linda, Have you looked at the 1860 and 1870 for Whitfield County? There is a Richard and Sara(h) McClure living VERY close to Thomas J. JONES and his wife, Matilda, and their children. This particular Richard/Sara had listed two sons, James and Lafayette, who are approximately ten years apart in age. Also living with them is granddaughter, Martha JONES. By 1880, I couldn't find the JONES family or the nearby McClure family in Georgia. I did find James and Lafayette McClure (with the same differences in age) in the Siloam Springs, AR, area on the 1880 with Richard, but no Sara. Siloam Springs isn't that far from Johnson County. Also, in discussions with other researchers I've run into the name of RichMOND McClure with wife Sara(h) which adds further confusion. Thomas and Matilda had sons named Andrew J. ("Jack"), Robert Lafayette ("Fate"), William T. ("Bill"), Rich (my ancestor -- who apparently went by Rich his whole life, not Richard or Richmond with no middle initial or name), and Joseph W.("Joe"). Those names appear frequently in the McClure line, but I keep wondering if they were just very common first names for the times or if they were family names given in honor of other relatives. Another thing that makes me wonder if the Richard/Sara of the 1860 and 1870 census living near Thomas and Matilda are her parents is the fact that Thomas and Matilda married in 1848 and their "oldest" son, Andrew J. "Jack" was born several years after their marriage. On the 1900 census Matilda states he had ten (10) children with eight (8) surviving. We know that daughter Rebecca had died and we can account for the other seven still living, so that leaves one unidentified child. On the 1870, the Martha appearing with Richard/Sara is older than Thomas and Matilda's Jack and was born after 1848. Richard/Sara were older by then and perhaps needed help around the house, and it would seem logical for an older granddaughter to move in and help out. Of course all this is mere speculation. Thanks for any help, insights, pointers, encouragement. Raye