First, there are various lists of old Robert Love's wives & children. Some have more sons than others, and some have dtrs (dif. dtrs. at that). And now I'm finding two wives' names. I'd like to know the documentary source of those wives since I do not include direct ancestor data that hasn't been proven. Now, re. his children. I have gone through Robert's children and grandchildren trying to figure out more closely when they were born (we have the sons' names in his will), plus a few others (perhaps minors so not mentioned in the will). First, these are the birth years I have come up with: John, b. 1704 Thomas, b.c. 1708 Robert, b.c. 1713 Joseph b.c. 1728 Samuel b.c. 1734 Now I will tell you how I came up with these birth years. First, I think most men married around age 25 (from past research on others); so if I had a marriage date, I counted back 25 years. Second, if mar. date was unknown but b/d of oldest child was known, I added 1 yr (1st yr of marriage) to the approx. age of 25 when married. Thus 26 yrs. Third, sometimes one grandson had an actual birthdate listed (from a tombstone or family Bible?) and, assuming child lists were in birth order (usually), I allowed 3 years between children. Although most women back then gave birth every 2 years, allowing 3 years made room for children who had died or dtrs. that may not have been mentioned, the father being off at war, etc. Fourth, if wife's birth year was known, I counted forward 20 years (most married older than we think they did back then) for her marriage year, and one more until the oldest child was born. JOHN-1705 His actual birth date is known, I believe from his tombstone. THOMAS-c.1708: Nothing on him, tho some people say he is the Thomas who married M. Guthrie; but that was John's son & a grandson of Robert. So, I just gave him a birth date to fill in between proven John and Robert. ROBERT- c.1713: He was married in 1738. So, taking age 25 from that, gives him a close birth year of 1713. Plus son #6 Hezekiah was b. 1752, and working back 3 yrs between sons still gives him a birth year very close to 1713. JOSEPH-c.1728: Son #1 Rbt. was b. 1754. Son #2 Wm. was m. 1785, giving him an close birth year of 1760. Son #4 David was b. 1763. Counting back 26 yrs (age 25 at marg. & 1 year to have 1st child) from Son #1 Robert's birth is 1728. WILLIAM-c.1729: Grandsons through son #2, Thomas, started with gr son #1 Henry b. 1784. Counting back 26 yrs gave Thomas' birth c.1758. Counting back 3 years for son #1 John to be born (c. 1755). Then counting back 26 years gave William's birth at c.1729. SAMUEL-c.1734: He was married 1759, so I counted back 25 years. JAMES?-c.1703: I haven't accepted him as a proven son yet, but if you want to include him, son #2 (John)'s son John was b. 1755. And son #3 (James Jr)'s dtr. Jane was m. 1785 giving her a birth year of c.1765, and her father a birth year of c.1737. Allowing 3 years between each child, and the first yr of marriage and age 25 at age of James' marriage gives c. 1703. ALEXANDER?-1718: I haven't accepted him as a proven son yet either, but his birth year (tombstone? family Bible?) is known. This sounds complicated, but if you will sit down with your family group sheets and count back allowing for births and marriages, it should work out the same way for you. What about possible dtrs? I've run in to Dorcas, Mary and Jean. If you want to include them, fit them in between Robert, Joseph and Samuel. I think this method is a more educated guess. Katheryn --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, and more