Chuck, With this family, I wouldn't rule out the X Files theory if I were you. <G> I agree that the Timothy-Ephraim naming pattern is certainly suggestive. However, as I have said many times, I don't have any "real" hard data on the family before Riggs Pennington (son of Timothy of Group IV). I think the 1759 date of birth for your Timothy seems awfully similar to "ca. 1749" which I have for "my" Timothy. I have no idea where that figure came from originally, and why it isn't rounded off to 1750 or 1745, for instance. It looks suspiciously like one of those "must have been" dates you see in WFT, which can be so misleading at times. If Ephraim of NC was born in 1725, and if he removed from PA to NC ca 1750, and if Timothy was born in PA (as my family tradition holds), then certainly 1749 seems reasonable. I've seen the date "ca. 1748" for Richard's birth, too, so if Richard was the eldest and all the other "ifs" are accepted, then 1749 it is by default. (Looks like I talked myself into that, doesn't it?) In my database there's a Joshua b. ca 1755 (probably in NC or VA) as a possible son of Ephraim of NC (father of Timothy & Richard of Group IV, who actually was probably born in NJ, and moved first across the border to eastern PA and then to NC/VA ca 1750). And then I show a son named Timothy (among others, including another Ephraim) listed for Joshua. Does this strike a bell? These names came from a pretty reliable source -- Marvin Jones' book "Some Descendants of Ephraim Pennington of NC..." which is highly regarded, but putting them in Ephraim's family might have been a leap on my part. Marvin was rather conservative in his book about stating that Joshua was a son of Ephraim and brother to Timothy & Richard because he didn't have strong enough evidence to state it as more than a "probably" I think. (It would be best to refer to the book itself, but it's late and I've got a busy day tomorrow, sorry.) However, in a recent email to me Marvin said he's currently investigating the Ephraims again after a hiatus, so maybe he'll turn something up soon. *** caution - speculation ahead *** My own theory of the origin of Ephraim of NC is that he is descended from the Ephraims of New Haven, CT & Newark, NJ, and that the first American Ephraim ("Ephraim of CT" who was a founding member of the New Haven Colony) was related to Sir Isaac Pennington, the Puritan Lord Mayor of London, father of Isaac "the Quaker" -- possibly his cousin, son or grandson of Sir Isaac's uncle William. I think it's possible that Sir Isaac was connected to the Muncaster Penningtons, but I don't know if there's any proof of that. Sir Isaac's grandfather William lived in London, as did his (Sir Isaac's) father, Robert Pennington. *** end total speculation *** My opinion is that your Timothy is in fact a different person from Group IV Timothy, but they may well both be descendants of Ephraim of CT. Ephraim of NC was the 5th Ephraim in that line, and there were probably other cousins that we haven't tracked down yet, possibly because they moved south to VA before E. of NC did. Incidently, a son of my gggg grandfather Riggs Pennington (Group IV Timothy's youngest son) married a McAllister, too. That was Elijah Pennington who m. Ellen McAllister in Hot Springs, AR after meeting her on the way from IL to TX with their caravan. Their youngest son, Robert Elijah Pennington, is the author of one of the letters my grandmother acquired now in my posession, and the recepient of the other one written by his cousin, Stephen Austin Hackworth. These letters have a lot of family history in them that has been some of the basis for my speculations, including the notion that Timothy was born in PA and either he or his son Riggs spent time as a boy with relatives in NJ. Katherine