I'm new to genealogical research beyond the family interview stage, but encouraged by Joan Young I am posting a query here. Actually there are three Lewis Kigers I'm interested in: LK1. My 3g-grandfather was named Lewis Kiger, according to my grandmother and her sister. He was "from North Carolina" and with his wife, Mary, had five children: John, Jerry, Lee, Sally, and my 2g-grandfather, Nathaniel Leopold "Doc" Kiger. Doc was born in Winston-Salem, N.C., May 3, 1861; moved to northeast Texas, where he married Mollie Inez Bell (b. Lloyd, Tex.); and died July 12, 1936. Their children were Cecil Merton Kiger (my grandmother, born Nov. 16, 1887, in Lloyd Tex., married Eli Burnett Bratcher Apr. 21, 1907, and died in Denton, Tex., Apr. 23, 1973); Ewell Auswin Kiger (b. Aug. 25, 1890, m. Bertha Robinson Mar. 11, 1912); Minnie Jane Kiger (b. Feb. 20, 1898, m. Claude Henry, d. 1943); and Margaret Maylene Kiger (b. Feb. 4, 1903 in Garza, Tex., m. Homer Chastain Aug. 10, 1946, d. Nov. 19, 1992, in denton, Tex.). That's all they told me when I talked with them about their family in 1965 or so. I can provide much additional data on Doc Kiger's descendants, if anyone's interested. LK2. The second Lewis Kiger I am interested in is one mentioned in Faye Moran's Kiger Family Home Page (www.erols.com/fmoran/kiger.html) and in Bob Kiger's article on the North Carolina Geiger/Kiger/Keiger family in _The Kiger Kounter_, 1:3 (Winter, 1997), 7. He was born in 1828, the 3rd-generation son of Simon Geiger (b. 1804) and Mary Elizabeth Moser (1807-1899), and married Sarah Mary Edwards (no issue listed). Among his sibs he had brothers named John and Jeremiah. LK3. The third Lewis Kiger I find mentioned in Louis H. Manarin, _North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865_ (Raleigh, N.C.: State Dept. of Archives and History, 1971), vol. 3, p. 324. He is listed as a private who resided in Forsyth Co. where he enlisted "at age 27" on Mar. 1, 1863. The same day another Forsyth Co. Kiger, Levi "age 29," also enlisted into the same outfit, Infantry Co. G of the 2nd N.C. Battalion (both survived the war). Among other service, LK3 served under General Ewell at Gettysburg, where he was wounded and captured, probably in the early action on July 1. Here are my hypotheses, which I invite you to critique: I see some reasons for identifying my 3g-grandfather LK1 with LK2. LK2's wife's name, Sarah Mary, and the names of his brothers Jeremiah and John, seem to be echoed in LK1's sons Jerry and John and daughter Sally. I am also struck by another curious echo in the names of my g-grandther Nathaniel "Doc" Kiger (1861-1936) and that of Nathaniel "Doc" Moser (1860-1936), a nephew of LK2. In favor of identifying LK1 and LK3 I have only the circumstantial naming of LK1's son "Lee" and Doc Kiger's naming of his son "Ewell," surnames of the men who were LK3's commanding officers at Gettysburg. The two Kigers of the N.C. 2nd Battalion, Levi and Lewis, look like brothers who enlisted together, but if the ages given, 29 and 27, are correct, they can't be LK2 (b. 1828) and his brother Simon Levi Kiger (b. 1822)--but I don't see any other likely candidates among the Faye Moran and Bob Kiger lists. Who are these guys? Anyway, that's my thinking, such as it is. I would appreciate any relevant information any of you might have, and, as I'm new to the genealogy business, your advice on how I should proceed from here. Mike Montgomery <michael@princeton.edu>