In August of 1836, a man named Peter Gates (b. May 10, 1801) married Elizabeth Surber in Shelby County, Indiana. There is good reason to believe that Peter was from a German or Swiss family who spelled the name GOETZ. There was a Peter GOETZ who was a Justice of the Peace in Shelby County about that time, but I have not been able to learn if it was Peter. Later, the spelling GETTS seems to have been used at times by their children and census takers. It is thought that in later years the spelling GATES was used. Elizabeth was my g.grandfather's sister. Elizabeth was deaf, as well as their two sons who were *possibly* named James and Joseph or Peter, Jr. A daughter named either Jane or Jessie was hearing and attended school in Indiana. According to school records of their cousins, the two boys were supposedly killed "during the Civil War" but probably not as combatants, and their deaths may not have been war related. I have no record of any kind for Peter, Elizabeth, or daughter Jane/Jessie after the 1850 census when Elizabeth and Jane were in Indianapolis. Peter and the boys were not with them. If there were other children I have no information about them. Any ideas for me on this one? Jeanne Surber