I went back to the courthouse in Farmerville yesterday. I went back through the original civil court records again. There was a huge file on The Bank of Alabama suit against John Matthews and Alexander M. Taylor filed in 1851. I copied most of the papers. I am still trying to go through them and decipher them. Some of the handwriting is really bad. I do know that John Matthews and Alexander M. Taylor had signed as security on a debt for Franklin Armstrong in Montgomery, Alabama. They interrogated quite a few witnesses in this suit. Some of the names were Allen Kennedy, George Harrison, M. Dean, Sumter Dean, Albert Arnold, Asa Dean, R. F. Taylor, R. Findley, James J. Stuart, James Harlaw, Hugh W. Watson, John W. Hughes, and James Turner. I'm sure there are more names, I haven't even come close to reading all of the papers yet. One of the witnesses, Dr. James G. Turner, a resident of Alabama, was interrogated and said that John Matthews came to him and asked what h! e should do about the payment to the bank. Franklin Armstrong was declared insolvent. Dr. Turner said Matthews had told him that he was going to remove all of his property and go to Louisiana so the bank would not be able to reach him. Matthews had told him that after talking to his family, neighbors, and members of his Baptist Church, he had been advised not to pay the bank. They seemed to think Armstrong was very capable of paying off his own debt. The debt was for over $5000. I will keep trying to decipher all of these really interesting papers. Debbie Debbie Richard debjrichard@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.