The information you speak of was the letter printed in the Thompson Journals: 1858-March 5 Columbia Co AR:Three Creeks Ark: Hon David Kilgore, Dear Sir: recd a note from Hon. E. A. Warrne from yourself to him making inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining whether we were of the same family. I know that my great grandfather came from Ireland about 200 years ago with four sons and settled in Penna or Maryland. The names of his sons were Ralph, William, Charles and Thomas. The last name was my grandfather who settled in an early day in North Carolina, from whence he, in company with my father, then quite a youth, removed to Tennessee, immediately after the Revolutionary War. Tennessee was then an unbroken wilderness and they were forced to build and live in a fort as a protection aginst the Indians. This fort was called Killgore's Station and was situated near where Nashville now stands. My grandfather died since my recollection at the advance age of 110 years. My fathers name was also Thomas.My father had three brothers, all of whom were actively engaged in the Revolutionary War and one of them was shot through at the battle of Kings Mountain. If you are a relative to us, you will have no cause to blush on account of those four then young men as they all fought and shed their blood freely in battling for the liberty we now enjoy. We have relations in Indiana and Kentucky. I remember having seen at my father's house in Tennessee, many years ago, four men of our name whose given names were John, Huey, David and Charles. I have heard my father speak of an Obed Kilgore who was a relation. Where he lived I do not know. The name James was a common one in our family. I recollect hearing my grandfather say that all of the names were related, which must necessarily be true according to the legend. I think sir, we have the right to be proud of the name as I have never yet seen it associated with crime or infamy. So may it ver be. I enclose you a short obituary notice of my father who recently died at the age of 94 years, I close sir! With the request that you will let me know the history of your immediate family which I will take as a great favor. Respectfully yours, etc. G. L. Kilgore -Thompson Journals V.20 p150-152 (re:Lee Bartos internet contact) This letter was written by Gabriel Lea Kilgore in 1858. He was the son of Thomas Kilgore & Phoebe Lea and named after his uncle Phoebe's brother Gabriel Lea. When Lee Bartos made contact (she's a descendant of these Kilgores) she provided the letter and it then made the rounds of the list. I think Jerry thought he was on to something and kind of promised a breakthrough using the letter and then it kind of fizzled-and he didn't really get back to it. I think he looked at this and he knew it was important and that the answer is probably staring us in the face-but we can't see the forest for the trees so to speak. I think we need to think outside the box and put aside our preconceived notions and that's a little hard to do. I know everytime I look at it-I still have the 5 Kilgore brothers in the back of my mind and I view it from that point of view-even though I don't think that the 5 men listed on G. W. Kilgore's list were brothers-I do believe that there were some brothers somewhere-too many of these stories have a tradition of brothers. I do take somewhat more stock in this letter than anything that I consider "tainted" by G. W. Kilgore's presumptions (no offense). This letter predates that. ----- Original Message ----- From: D Rennow<mailto:[email protected]> To: Kilgore<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 8:36 PM Subject: [KILGORE] Documentation Before Jerry died there was talk of a mysterious piece of documention that would link the PA and VA Kilgores. Then more talk of documenting showing the original Kilgores date of arrival. Did anyone ever see either of them? I prefer documented sources, although the old stories can be interesting. For example: In the mid 1900s some Hardwicks hired a genealogist to track their family in KY. He came back with this story. Mary Ann "Polly" Hardwick was born in 1813 in England in the Hardwick castle. She was a princess. As a teenager she became pregnant. Her family was so embarrassed that they shipped her off to the new world. She made her way to Pulaski County KY where she gave birth to a baby boy in 1828. She married a man with the same last name, Hardwick, probably a distant cousin, and they had four children. The truth was this. John and Agness Hardwick, living in KY, had at least 5 children, one being Mary. Then the parents disappeared or died. Two of the kids were taken by wagon to IN as servants. Mary and one of her sisters became prostitutes. She never married. She lived until 1881 and was totally blind in her old age. So how do I know she was a prostitute? One of her great granddaughters was told that by her mother. AND many years ago I spoke with two very old women in the Pulaski County Historical Society library who actually knew the people she lived with in her old age. It was an accepted fact that she had been a prostitute. Personally, I have to respect the fact that the kids all survived. Can you imagine being an orphan in the wilds of KY in the 1820s? I was impressed that she made it at all. And then she also had to take care of her son. Tough and resourceful. What a woman. I am proud to be her descendant and I am glad to know the truth. Cousin Dennie ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message