"The American Genealogy of John Ben Pate" is one of many sources on the Pates that are flawed. Where that book is concerned the author "jumped to conclusions." The author appears to have relied on correspondence with others as his "PROOF." He attributes children to individuals who had died several years prior to the birth of the child. Just because there are two Pate families in the same area did not make them related. Nor do all of the Pates in the US today descend from Sir John Pate of Leicestershire, England. For membership in any of the lineage societies you have to provide PROOF. My application for the UDC included, my birth certificate, husband's birth certificate, marriage certificate, parents marriage certificate - then the fun began. My parents were born before recording births was mandatory. As a substitute I had to provide census copies showing them as young children. One of my ancestors had been missed by the census taker. Though I had a marriage license it took a deed to prove that this ancestor was the child of the Confederate Soldier. The loss of Southern Records makes finding some of your proof difficult. Lineage societies will not accept most secondary sources. Remember too that you have 16 gg-grandparents, half of which would have been eligible to be in the military. If you go to ggg-grandparents you have doubled your chances of finding a qualifying ancestor. Good luck, Janice Pate Please respect the privacy of other people; do not submit information on living individuals without their permission.