Dear listers, Hi. I am new to this list but belong to many others close to Belmont. I am looking for information on my brick wall, Thomas N. Stanton, whose children were sent to the Newark Poor House while residents of Guernsey Co. in 1855. I believe Thomas to be the son of Enoch Stanton of Belmont Co., Somerset Twp and descended from the NC Stantons of Jefferson and Belmont. Thomas shows up in the 1850 Ohio census for Guernsey Co., Somerset Twp. as living with Enoch and Mary Stanton. This Thomas is probably their son but is listed as a labourer as he was 22 at the time and most adult male's professions were listed. Listed in Enoch (60) and Mary (60) Stanton's household was a daughter, Ruthannah (21) an Elizabeth Johnson (6) and a Charlotte South (25) also from RI and her daughter Mary F. South (2). There is also another Thomas Stanton in Pease Twp and with a wife named Elizabeth which my Thomas was supposed to have also, but there are too many other children and he would have been too old as my Thomas served in the Navy during the Civil War and although that Thomas was 37 in the 1850 census, in 1862 he would have been 49 and although others served of that age, they were mostly volunteers later in the war and not up to the rigorous life of a sailor on a gunboat in the Mississippi which Thomas was. This Thomas would have been 34 and in much better shape to fill that role. Plus the fact he was supposed to still be around for my grandparents wedding in 1908. That would have made the one from Pease twp 95 and a little old. No men in my family have lived that long so Enoch's son, who would have been 80 in 1908, makes more sense. I would appreciate anyone recognizing this family or the people living with them to contact me. I am also researching Shirer, Shirrar, Shirar, Decker, Adams, Werts, Cummins, Cummings, McKee, McKey, McFarland, Humphrey, Fields, Walters and others in nearby Muskingum, Coshocton, Licking, Knox and Holmes counties. Also researching Scheurer and Kirby from Berks Co., PA and Somerset Co., PA. I also own a copy of "Our Ancestors the Stantons" which chronicles the Stantons of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, late of NC and RI, and have been putting the book on-line at my web site for all Stanton researchers. I'd appreciate any help possible. Denny Shirer - drdx@neo.rr.com Shirer Family Genealogy Project http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysong