Like many Lewis researchers in Virginia and Maryland, I have been trying for some years to find the parents of a Lewis ancestor, in my case Thomas Lewis of Difficult Run, Fairfax and Loudoun County VA, who married Mary Moss, daughter of John and Frances (-----) Moss. (There were several Thomas Lewises of Difficult Run; mine is the least prominent amongst them.) He was still alive 7 June 1788 when he deeded land and personal property to his sons William Lewis, Daniel Lewis, and Levi Lewis. It appears from circumstantial evidence that my Thomas Lewis belongs to the Lewis family of Prince George's County MD. The progenitor of the Lewis family of Prince George's County MD, Thomas Lewis, whose will was proven 5 June 1696 Prince George's County MD, had three sons: Richard Lewis, presumably the Richard Lewis whose will was proven 1719 Chowan County NC, John Lewis whose will was proven 20 April 1711, and Thomas Lewis about whom much less is known. Thomas Lewis Jr has therefore long been a catch basin for the hopes of those seeking a father for unconnected Lewises along either side of the Potomac. In "Pioneer Lewis Families" Michael Cook assigned Thomas Lewis the Younger four sons: 1. Thomas Lewis; married Elizabeth Thomas 2. John Lewis of Prince George's County MA; estate account 1748 Prince George's County MD; married Winifred Thomas 3. Richard Lewis; [frequently said to have married Susanna Stonestreet although he did not] 4. Jonathan Lewis of Prince George's County MD; estate inventory 13 February 1724 Prince George's County MD]; married Mary ----- A deed has surfaced showing that none of those sons belongs to Thomas Lewis Jr. The deed, dated 11 March 1755, is from his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Joseph Fry, at that time of Fairfax County VA, to William Robins of Prince George's County MD in which they conveyed to Robins Elizabeth's interest in Battersea [Prince George's County MD Liber NN, f.352]. (I am indebted to William Neal Hurley Jr for the reference.) The deed states that Elizabeth's father Thomas Lewis was the son of Thomas Lewis who left him part of Battersea in his will; that her father was the brother of John Lewis and died after John; that her father died intestate without male issue; that he left four daughters: Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, and Catherine. That deed leaves the above four men--Thomas, John, Richard, and Jonathan--as free agents. Given current research, can anyone connect those four men to their proper father? Does anyone have hard evidence about them? Does anyone have a hypothesis about the parents of my Thomas Lewis of Difficult Run? Many thanks for your help, and best wishes to you. Scott Swanson Department of History Butler University 4600 Sunset Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46208-3485 sswanson@butler.edu