In the Samuel GRIFFIN Bible there are these Thomas LEE entries: "Thomas Lee and Mary Griffin married April 9, 1747 ************** Mary Lee, wife of Thomas Lee, of Ditchley, our beloved daughter died Dec 8, 1758 *************** Samuel Lee, son of Thomas Lee, died Aug. 5, 1762. age 14. " It is the death entry of Thomas' wife, Mary, that has sparked the old discussion that Thomas was a son of Richard and Judith (Steptoe) LEE, then proprietors of Ditchley Hall. This has been proved a false conclusion as Richard and Judith never had a son, Thomas. Unfortunately, many have reiterated the false assertion and it is in multiple references. Keying on the Ditchley locale, it can be accepted that Thomas LEE was of the clan of LEEs descending from Richard LEE (I), the immigrant, who married Ann Constable. The challenge is to determine the particular line. Having been married in 1747 Thomas would be of about third generation of America born LEEs. Of Richard LEE (I) children there were 6 males: John, Richard, Francis, William, Hancock, and Charles. Of these I do not have descendants for three: John (1643-1673), Francis (1649-1714), and William (1651-1698), all were old enough to have children. So there are three of the six possible who do not so any descendants or half of the LEEs are unaccounted for. This is both a problem and an opportunity. It certainly opens up the opportunity that our Thomas of Ditchley is among the unaccounted. Best regards, Hugh <[email protected]> [DENTON, FRENCH, GOAR, GURNEY, HOFFMAN, HUFFMAN, KNOX, LEE, MIZNER, POILLON, ROSE, RUTGERS, SMOCK, THOMASON, WOOD]