Going to Baton Rouge State Archives is on my list. The 1910 court house fire in downtown Lake Charles covered almost a block, and unfortunately church records burned also. Immaculate Conception Cath. church was just down the block from the court house, and still is. A most magnificent structure. What would have really helped, would be an 1890 census, and of course we do not have that. So what you are suggesting is; try Alabama? Thomas Jefferson Gordon's est. dob is 1843/45. He married (abt. 1865) Lucrettia Bushnell, decendant of Ezra Bushnell, in LA. (no record of marriage), but I have all his decendants. First generation are all gone, and almost all the 2nd. He named his first 2 children, who died young: Thomas Samuel Gordon and James Gordon. I believe that is significant, and I try to follow that lead @ times. Thanks for your encouragement. Ethel.