I have a few comments and a few questions. I have seen mention somewhere that Edward Mattingly (son of Thomas III) mentions a Thomas Mattingly in his will and there seems to be some speculation regarding who this Thomas may be. Edward had 2 nephews named Thomas. One was the son of his brother Clement and the other was Thomas V, son of his brother Thomas IV. Clements son, Thomas, died before 1778 and therefore is not likely to be the Thomas named in Edward's will. However, Thomas V, died in 1779 and is likely to be the Thomas that is named in Edward's will. In fact, in Thomas V's will he mentions "...all the estate given me from my grandfather Mattingly, and my uncle Edward Mattingly's estate..." The other interesting thing about Edward's will is that he mentions "I give to my brother Jn Bapt. Mattingly my water mill..........during his natural life and after his decease, the said mill and land to go to his son and his heirs forever." The tracts of land that he mentions are "Mattingly's Lane" and "Great St. Thomas". Now there are 2 interesting facts here. The first is that he mentions John Baptist's son (so clearly this John Baptist did have children - HEM lists this JB as having "no issues") but he doesn't actually name him. This is strange because he clearly names nearly ever niece and nephew that he had and identified them as being ".... children of my brother Clement", etc... Why would he have not named JB's son? I seem to think that perhaps there was some estrangement or that this JB did not live in or near SMC and perhaps Edward did not actually know his name. This JB does present the will to the courts after Edward's death so he is clearly alive. I'm wondering if this isn't the JB that was in VA. Thoughts? The other interesting thing about Edward's will is that he leaves JB the tracts of land "Mattingly's Lane" and "Great St. Thomas" in his will of February 1778 but yet Edward's brother, Clement, leaves these tracts of land to his children in his will of December 1778. So, clearly JB comes to claim the property but apparently does not keep the property and must have in turn given or sold the property to his brother, Clement. Again, making me think that this JB did not live in or near SMC. It is unlikely that JB would have died because his son would have inherited the tracts as per Edward's will. Unless, of course, JB died, his son inherited the property and then in turn sold it to his Uncle Clement. Seems too much to go on in 10 months. Any thoughts? Paul Mattingly Atlanta, GA