This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.kemp/1733.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My gggrandmother was a McElwain and she lived in Logan County, Kentucky. My ggrandfather was William Thompson. Kemp, son of Thomas Kemp and Frances Orr. Frances Orr was the daughter of Elizabeth McElwain and William Orr (Logan County, KY). Elizabeth's mother, Frances McElwain who was a widow, along with her 12 children, came from Ireland, landed in the Baltimore area, stayed there a while and moved west to Logan County, KY. The siblings of Elizabeth were, as far as I can ascertain, James, Joseph, Ann, Mary, Graiah, Margaret, Lydia,Michael, Alexander, Frances and perhaps David. They settled in and around Russellville, KY before 1807. William T. (Thompson) Kemp's mother, Frances, died when he was a small child and he was raised by his maternal uncle, Alexander, and his wife in Mt. Pleasant, TN (about 50 miles south of Nashville). When he was around 18, he moved to Texas and lived the rest of his life in the Wichita Falls area. He was my great grandfather. Is it possible that the will was supposed to say William T. and not William J? Or perhaps difficult to read? There is little doubt that there is too much coincidence for it not to be my ggrandfather. There was also some legal documentation concerning the guardian of William T. as he was a small child, and after the death of his wife, Thomas Kemp apparently left and he was very close to the members of the Orr family - I'm not sure if James (the eldest son) or Alexander (a younger son) was appointed guardian but Alexander raised him. The widow Frances McElwain was quite wealthy and the Orr family was certainly well to do - I would understand why William T. Kemp would have been a beneficiary in James' will.