I hope this is the last time I am sending out this list. I have included a few more additions and corrections sent in by Rainwater correspondents. I am restricting the list to men named Rainwater who were born before 1900. They all go back to four people born around 1800 who named sons Miles Rainwater: Miles Rainwater (1787-1826), James Rainwater the blacksmith, James Rainwater the preacher, and William Rainwater (1774-1825). Admitting the unlikelihood that both Jameses had the same father, I separated out the preacher in my first list. Dan Bruce, however, thinks, with some reason, that the preacher, rather than the blacksmith, was the brother of the first Miles. I still think the reverse, particularly because Miles's estate contained some unusual blacksmith-related items for a preacher to have (Miles also was a minister, and James the preacher followed him in his church). Another reason is that the church records say that Miles was followed in the church by his cousin, not his brother. However, the same records gave Miles the wrong wife, so what can we believe? It would be nice if all the Miles Rainwaters descended from James Rainwater (c.1770-c.1835) and his wife Nancy Miles (c.1775-c.1847), as Nancy's last name appears to be the ultimate source of this first name. There were NO people named Miles in the Rainwater family prior to the marriage of James with Nancy Miles. However, both the James Rainwaters named sons Miles, and we have concluded that they were not brothers. At worst, one line of Mileses was named after an uncle-nephew relationship rather than father-son. Consequently, I am giving separate numbers to each of these four Miles progenitors. Their sons are designated by a number and a letter (1a), the next generation by a number, a letter, and a number (1a1), and so on. There are three isolated Miles Rainwaters. (1) Robert-William-James (1790-1871, m. Catherine McCall)-Milas W. (1816-1895, m. (1) Martha Profitt, (2) Elizabeth Dicky)-Miles Murphy (1864-1891, m. Hannay Rebecca Dandridge McAndrew). It is clear that this Miles drew his name from his father Milas and presumably had nothing to do with the Nancy Miles source. I am not sure of the accuracy of this line back to Robert. (2) Robert-John-John-John-William-Wilkes Berrywine-Miles Avery (1864-1925). This man occurs later, and the source of his name may be from distant cousins and ultimately Nancy Miles, or from an entirely unrelated source. Again, he does not seem to have relevance to the Nancy Miles source. Moreover, the name may be in error, as he is listed as Millidge A. Rainwater on the 1870 census but Miles in 1880. The name Miles may thus have been an elision or nickname. (3) The Stewart Co., TN, census of 1860 lists a John H. Rainwater (b. NC c.1804), wife Frances (Bird). Although some people list a son Miles Rainwater (b. c. 1846 for this couple, the name apparently is in error, as Wiley C.Rainwater, not Miles, was the son. We can disregard this group. Here then are the four men and their Miles descendants. I include everyone with the name Miles. Men with other names are included when they had a descendant named Miles. Again, I solicit comments, corrections, and additions. 1. Miles Rainwater (1787-1826) m. Nancy Edwards (1788-1855) 1a. Miles Rainwater (1815-1890) m. Sarah Edwards 1b. Silas Mercer Rainwater (1825-1902) m. Mary Jane Hindman 1b1. Miles Rainwater (1857-1911) m. (1) Hannah Hindman, (2) Sarah Frances Allen 2. James Rainwater the blacksmith ( - ) m. Apposley Cunningham 2a. Miles Rainwater (1816- ) m. (1) Mary Blanchett, (2) Sarah Elizabeth Simmons, (3) Sabra Amanda Jane Smith 2a1. Miles M. Rainwter (1858- ) m. 2b. Eber Rainwater ( - ) m. Sarah Elizabeth Eskew 2b1. Miles Eber Rainwater ( - ) m. Laura Almina Frazier 2b2. James Daniel Rainwater ( - ) m. Lucinda Johnson 2b2a. Miles Franklin Rainwater (1894-1907) m. 3. William Rainwater (1774-1825) m. Martha Hodges 3a. Miles Rainwater (1818-1884) m. Frances Chaney 3b. William Howard Rainwater (1813-c.1889) m. Minerva Ann Rayborn 3b1. John Raleigh Rainwater (1841-c.1910) m. (1) Genetta Thomas, (2) Rhoda Ann Cole 3b1a. Miles Evan Rainwater (1863-1941) m. Harriett Elizabeth Davidson 3b2. Miles Rainwater (1843-1927) m. (1) Permelia Emily Cain, (2) Elizabeth Warner or Waters, (3) Rebecca Reed or Davis 3c. Bartholomew Rainwater (1894-1889) m. Nancy McLaughlin 3c1. Miles Rainwater (1836-c.1914) m. Cornelia E. 3c2. Josiah Wilson Rainwater (1843-1934) m. Elizabeth Jane Weddle 3c2a. Miles Rainwater (1876-1956) m. Ollie Frances Cooper 4. James Rainwater the preacher (1795-1871) m. Mary Mason 4a. Zebulon Miles Rainwater (c.1823-1857) m. Lillian Thompson Joseph B. Lambert Department of Chemistry Northwestern University 2145 Sheridan Road Evanston, IL 60208-3113 Telephone 847-491-5437 Fax 847-491-7713 E-mail lambert@casbah.acns.nwu.edu or jlambert@nwu.edu Webpage http://www.chem.nwu.edu/~lambert/ (best with Netscape 3.0 or higher)