This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: LVelett Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.cattaraugus/6577.1.1.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: hi, Tom, I can only offer you a "maybe". My ancestor Joseph N. Root who I wrote about had a son Marvin J. Root, born abt 1839 in New York. He is age 10 in the 1850 U.S. census, and age 17 in the 1855 New York state census. I then find a Marvin Root, age 21, b. abt 1839 in New York, living in Ellicottville, Cattaraugus co., NY in the 1860 U.S. census. His spouse is Jane, 23, and their daughter is Martha, 3. A Marvin J. Root, 23, from Ellicottville, enlisted in the Civil War, on 21 Aug 1862. I don't find him in 1870, but find two possible Marvins in 1880. One is living in Great Valley, Cattaraugus co., NY with spouse Jane and children William, Sarah, Ellen, Marvin, Charles (age 8, which would be born about 1872; could this be your Charles?) and Mary. The other is living in Nebraska with his brother Levings, sister-in-law Arminta, and their four children. Maybe they are one and the same, with some sort of family crisis or his own wanderlust accounting for him being apart from his wife. I know Joseph N. Root had a son Levings, and I found him in Minnesota in 1875 with the same spouse and some of the same children as the 1880 Levings in Nebraska. He was in the same county in Minnesota as his father and his older brother James, my ancestor. This leads me to believe the Nebraska Marvin is "my" Marvin. I haven't found much of these two after 1880, except for Marvin's son William H. Root, who appears in Nebraska in 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. So I haven't ruled out the New York Marvin from my line either. Do you have dates for your people? It seems possible we may have a connection, but it's thin at the moment. best, Laurie velett@comcast.net Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.