This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Eldredge/Eldridge Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/0EB.2ACE/455 Message Board Post: Dear List: I am still working on finding the actual roots for my great,great, great grandfather John Eldridge who according to the 1840 Lyme CT census is in the 30-40 year old age bracket making his birth betwen 1800-1810. His marriage to my grandmother in January of 1838, states he is from Chatham MA. She was from Lyme CT and the marriage was performed by the Justice of the Peace in Lyme CT. This is from the Lyme Vital Records Book of Marriage. I was recently at the Connecticut State Library and found a short newspaper article on this marriage which stated "Dr. John F. Eldridge of Chatham MA married Mary Ann Chadwick from Lyme CT on January 28, 1838 by Justice of the Peace, Joshua Warren." The article came from the New Haven Literary Emporium and is dated February 6, 1838. This couple divorced in 1851. There were two children born to this union, a son named John born about 1839 and a daughter named Eliza born about 1841. John left the marriage about 1842 and the His wife filed for divorce in 1851. We have several John F's in our line. Seems that each son was named John. I cannot find a John F. Eldridge practicing medicine in Chatham MA or Lyme CT. I was always under the assumption that this grandfather was a mariner but the 1840 census unfortunately does not give much information. I have not been able to locate him after that. I have found the children and all their death records state that their father was from Chatham MA. Mary Ann married in 1851 to a Mr. Amos Huntley from Lyme CT, but she died in 1859. Getting back to the newspaper article, Could this possibly be a "typo" and that Dr. should have been "Mr." or could there have been a legitimate Dr. in the family that we don't know about? Any ideas or help is greatly appreciated. I have been looking for this man for so many years. I can't trace our line back past him as I don't have an actual date of birth other than what the 1840 Lyme CT census states. Thanks again for all your help. Sincerely, Carol in MN