Hi, all. I've long been intrigued by family stories about my first-cousin-five-times-removed John LUCAS of Shepherdstown, VA/WV. At the outbreak of the Civil War he disappeared from home "in the company of some lady" (as an old letter put it) and was never heard from again. Well, I've found him, and I wonder whether anybody else out there can tell me more. In 1870 John was living in Lyons Township, Clinton County, Iowa. The "lady" turns out to have been one Mary Stephens from Pennsylvania, born about 1830 (John was ten years older), and they had children John R. (b. about 1861), Robert E. L. (!) (b. about 1864), Mary S. (b. about 1867), and Charles F. (b. April 1870). I think John himself lived until 1893; don't know about the children. Any descendants out there? I'd love to hear more about this black sheep, who looks as if he may have outlived everybody else in his family and raised a fine family of his own. Robert Coontz Waukesha, Wisconsin P.S. To orient you further, John was the son of Edward (or maybe Edwards) LUCAS (7 Nov 1783 - 1 Sep 1849) and Mary RONEMUS. He had brothers and sisters Lewis (1806-), Elizabeth (1808-1844), Edward (1811-), George (1813-1881), Robert Armistead (1815-1883), Benjamin (1817-1890), and Charles (1823-1864).