Posted on: Polk County, NC Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/NC/Polk/156 Surname: Thompson, Patterson, Forest, Howard ------------------------- My paternal grandparents were George Lafate Thompson and Aletha Howard Thompson and my maternal grandparents were Ernest Linwood Patterson and Maggie Forest Patterson. I know that my maternal grandfather's parents were both born in County Cork, Ireland and immigrated to North Carolina before my grandfather's birth. They probably entered the U.S. via either Charleston, South Carolina or Savannah, Georgia probably in the late 1860s or early 1870s. All lived and died in Saluda, Polk County, North Carolina and my paternal grandfather, George Lafate Thompson, was sheriff of Polk County in the 1930s. My maternal grandfather, Ernest Linwood Patterson, was engineer on the "helper" engine on the Saluda Mountain grade with the Southern Railroad (engine #5047) until his retirement in the early 1940s. He died in Saluda in 1944. I would appreciate any information concerning any of my ancestors. I am very much the novice at this. Thank you. George Michael (Mike) Thompson P.S. - I have several e-mail addresses: at present, I am working in western Kazakhstan and here, my e-mail address is [email protected] My e-mail at work in the U.S. is [email protected] and my e-mail at home is [email protected] For responses within the next few weeks, please use the northbuzachi address.