Manuscripts are like census records and death certificates, etc.: The validity of the information depends entirely on the accuracy of what the person knew who gave the information. There is an excellent example of erroneous legal records in my own family. My great-grandmother gave the information for my great-grandfather's death cerificate in 1915. The death cetrificate which is on file in the State of Kentucky states his father was named David. There was never a David in the family. Many other records of Kentucky and Missouri prove his father was Christopher. It is not uncommon for oral family history to be inaccurate. I have had people tell me they know something is a fact because it was written in the Bible. The question is who wrote it and when. If the Bible was printed in 1915 and the information written in it is about people in the 1800s, one wonders where did they get their information. There could be innocent reasons why a child would be left out of a family history. One possibility could be that when he was tiny, the mother was not well and a childless relative took the child to raise. This happened sometimes in large families and since the child did not grow up with siblings, he/she was more or less forgotten. Don't give up! Elise