This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: alexh1971 Surnames: Leffew, Leflew, Lafue, Lawson, Collins, Gray, Sizemore Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.lawson/3278.2.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I did find where Bige was a Leflew married to Jennie (Sizemore). After that I manually went through the census and in 1860 I found Bige Leffew that was 6 yr old living down the road from his mom Nancy Leffew and some other Leffew kids with no father. He was living with a Robert Collins and Robert's wife. In the 1850 census I found Nancy Lauson(LAwson) and a Lawson child (the childs first name was Elihu) living with Nancy and what appears to be her sister Jane with Jane's husband Elihu Leffew and children. I assumed Jane and Nancy were sisters since it said they were both born in TN. I then found the marriage certificate on Jane and Elihu that confirmed Jane's maiden name was Lawson. I am drawing conclusions here but it appears Bige's mom went to Ky from Tn with her sister and brother-in-law and was living with them. I can only assume that the husband was having kids with his wife and perhaps an unappropriate relationship with his wife's sister. This could be why in 1850 Nancy's child is named Elihu after her sister's husband and why in 1860 Nancy's kids (including Bige) have the Leffew name. From what I can see Jane and Elihu took their family back to Tn and Nancy stayed. Jane had a son who would have been (if my assumption is correct about Nancy and Jane's husband) Bige's cousin and half brother named Rice (Reese) who went by Leffew and later started going by Lawson much like our Bige did. Elihu also appears in Clay County in 1840 but his name is spelled Lafue. I think the variations in spelling is due to just not being able to read and write. Any light on this subject is much appreciated. Feel free to email me and let me know what you think. My email is alex@alex-hernandez.net. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.