I received this message a couple of months ago and thought it might be of interest to other PATE researchers - in particular the descendants of William PATE of Sangamon Co., Illinois. I tried to forward it to several of William Riley PATE's descendants but my address book is out of date. So I am sending it here in the hopes that they will be able to get it. I have a second message I received today that I will also forward. The petition that is mentioned is found in several places on the internet, including my own website www.pageproducer.com/users/deeproots/index.html Marsha Buck DeepRoots@sisna.com ----- Original Message ----- From: GeraldCollins601@aol.com To: deeproots@sisna.com Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 1:24 PM Subject: William Riley Pate I wondered about William Riley Pate who presented the petition and requested a guardian to be appointed over his property and estate...... To me this would imply that he was the beneficiary of an estate. In the John Sturgis will written 14 May 1824 and probated 7 February 1825 he mentioned his eldest daughter Jane Pattey [Pate]. This would be daughter Jane Bratton Sturgis born about 1790 in York County, SC. We have been unsuccessful in finding Jane [Sturgis] Pate. Now wonder if the William Pate of Sangamon County, Illinois was in fact her husband. They lived in the same area of Illinois and we know that the brother of Jane Sturgis, Dr. Daniel Bratton Sturgis was born in Blount County, Tennessee 17 June 1811 so they were in that area for an undetermined time. The younger Sturgis children had been born in York County, South Carolina. If Jane Sturgis was the [1st] wife of William Pate she might have died around 1827 and left William Riley Pate some property, which required him to have a guardian. I am just throwing this on on the outside chance that this line could be our long lost Pate family. Was there any estate papers that you are aware of? Appreciate any information you might have to offer.