Elaine, I couldn't have said it better than Lyn. Lyn's "evidence requirements" are even tougher than mine. I'm inclined to accept "James" as Thomas Poythress' middle name based on heavy circumstantial evidence presented by Georgia Ellison plus the drum roll coming from other quarters. Lyn makes an excellent point that we have been unable to develop and will likely not ever develop.......along about 1785-90, the "Thomas" activities. "Thomas" seems to be making so many trips between VA and GA that the events stand a decent chance of being those of both Thomas Sr. and Thomas Jr. Thomas, Jr. seems to be a murky character who appears briefly a few times and then falls off the radar screen. The father-son relationship of Thomas-George has not been found chiseled in stone. However, I'd be inclined to accept Thomas-George even before I would accept a challenge that Meredith, Sr. was not the "son" of THIS PARTICULAR Thomas......and I make that only about a 10% chance of being "wrong." Elaine, you will discover that when you want something that is a) organized and b) ready to take to the bank.......Lyn is your guy. Thanks for bailing me out on this one, Lyn. Maynard