Every so often I think it is a good idea for all of us to restate what we know about our families, so with that thought in mind, here goes again: My Arthur Ingram, or Ingraham (and I've found it spelled both ways, sometimes in the same document) first appears for certain in 1817 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He took out and completed naturalization papers there in 1817, listing Indiana Township as his present residence and Belfast, Ireland as his birthplace. A deed also shows him purchasing land in Indiana township the same year. Family tradition states that he had originally migrated from Ireland to New York and that he became a sea captain, was captured by the British during the Revolution and spent eleven years in captivity before managing to escape and arriving in Pennsylvania. Obviously, the time period involved would seem to make such a story impossible. However, keeping in mind that family tradition often has some basis in fact, I have wondered if perhaps part of the story is true, that he was maybe a seaman of some rank in the War of 1812, or was impressed sometime by the British (after all, until taking out naturalization papers in 1817, he would have been a British subject), deserted whatever British ship he found himself on, and ended up in Pennsylvania in 1817. But...where did he get the money to purchase land? In any event, he seems to have prospered in Indiana township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, since when he died in about 1852, his will left a substanial estate to his children. They were, all named in the will: Arthur b. 1823, Thomas b. 1824, David b. 1825, William John b. 1827, Henry b. 1830, and Sarah Ann b. 1832. Arthur Jr married Mary Wible about 1852 and had at least one son, named for Arthur Jr.'s younger brother, William John. This son moved to Kansas. Arthur Jr. himself lived a very interesting and active life, going to California with his brother William during the Gold Rush, and having a fight with a bear on the trip, which resulted in the limited use of his right arm from that time on. When he was in his sixties, he went to Alaska and perished of starvation on an ill-fated trip in the Yukon Country. William John Ingram, son of Arthur and Sarah, married Mary Ann Silvey in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on 24 Jul 1851. Almost immediately, they moved to Morgan County, Ohio, where my great-grandmother, Loretta Jane Ingram was born in 1863. After the Civil War, they moved to Calloway County, Missouri, and then, by 1888 to Lyon County, Kansas, where Loretta Jane married John Willard Brewer. Loretta Jane and John Willard were my great-grandparents. If any of this connects with any family of yours, or any family you've heard of, I'd like very much to hear from you. I'll be happy to exchange information.