Roy, You make some good points that are certainly relevant to the issue at hand. At this juncture, I would make no claims about this individual who remains totally unknown to all of us other than through this unsubstantiated family tradition. If was such an individual actually existed and there was something substantive behind the "of Wales" part, it might mean only that he came from other parts and was a shopkeeper in Cardiff for a few years before finally shoving off for the colonies. I have to confess that I am an internet genealogist as opposed to a real one. It seems to me that most Paces these days accept that the Frederick Pace of Wales story is just a myth, and I am not sure that this is the most logical conclusion based on the reasons that I stated. In weighing the evidence available to me, I have decided that the Frederick Pace of Wales story most likely fits my ancestry, rather than the John Pace the Tory story. For me, this is an investigation in progress and I freely admit the possibility the Bruce Howard may turn out to be correct after all. Now, I need some volunteers to drive down to Mississippi with me and hold down a few male Paces for me while I do a few cheek swabs. Not for the faint of heart - I hear that those Mississippi Paces are awfully hard to hold down. Joe Anderson P.S. I have to confess that I am fond of the Occam's Razor stuff, which many of us need to use more often, especially the conspiracy theorists and alien believers. Hey, maybe those crop circles weren't made by alien spaceships! Perhaps it was just that bunch of guys who hang out in the pub! ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Roy Johnson" <royj@webster.edu> To: "'Janders 45'" <janders45@hotmail.com>,<PACE-L@rootsweb.com> Subject: RE: [PACE-L] Frederick Pace of Wales and Occams Razor Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 16:25:14 -0600 I did a study on the Pace name in Wales. Can't recall all sources but I found that : (1) Pace is not a Welsh name; it is English. The Welsh were Gaelic and tended to resist English things. (2) There are Paces living in Wales but they are few in number and appear to be of pretty recent origin. This doesn't prove anyting one way or another, but all facts should be brought in. Roy Johnson