All, While digging through some family genealogical papers, I've come across some typed transcripts of family letters written between 1838 and 1872. Two brothers, Aaron and Ephraim Buckles, write back from Ohio and Illinois to family connections living in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, VA/WV. There is a lot of news about members of the LUCAS family of the Shepherdstown area, who were cousins and former neighbors of the Buckles brothers and of my own Coontz ancestors. Most of the LUCASes mentioned are descendants of Edward Lucas (1738-1809) and Elizabeth Edwards (1745-1808). The letters are fascinating reading and provide a wealth of information about who was where, when. They also raise a lot of questions, which I hope you LUCAS researchers can help to answer: (1) One name that keeps cropping up is Henderson Lucas. Does anybody know who he was? From the letters, I infer that he was born in 1792, give or take a year, and died in 1868. In 1838 he was living at "Sulphur Springs" and farming. (Maybe Henderson was a middle name?) (2) One of the Lucas brothers, named Edward, evidently had nine children: Lewis (1806), Elizabeth (1808), Edward (1811), George (1813), William, Robert Armistead (1815), Benjamin (1817), John (1820), and Charles (1823). The family supported the Confederacy in the Civil War. Charles died in battle at Richmond. Lewis and Edward (the younger) both lost sons. Intriguingly, John disappeared at the beginning of the war "in the company of a lady" and apparently was disowned. A letter dated Januasy 23, 1865, said his name was no longer mentioned in the family. Does anybody know where he went or what became of him? Did he ever come back? John Lucas is a common name, so I'll probably never know, but it would be fascinating to find out. Robert Coontz (5g-grandson of Edward Lucas & Elizabeth Edwards) Waukesha, Wisconsin