Ratliff researchers, Archibald THOMPSON, b. 1736, m. Mary ELSWICK, b. 1742, had a son named Ratliff. As a couple of their other sons -- Rodden and Elswick -- were given surnames as Christian names, I believe Ratliff was named for a Ratliff family that was in the same area of Pittsylvania-Montgomery Co., Va., as Archibald and company in the mid-1700s-1800. In a Diary that Archibald kept, the name Nathan RATLIFF is recorded a couple of times in trade notes -- one entry is around 1790. Ratliff Thompson, b. 1767, m. Catty (Catherine) COMPTON in 1797 in Green Co., Ky. Surnames in the Diary include ELSWICK, SKAGGS, RATLIFF, WOOD, VANCIL, PENNINGTON, CODIE, AKERS, BLACKBURN, LORTON, DESPAIN and others. Some Thompson researchers think that Lidia Unknown (Mary's mother) who m. first, John Elswick, second, Jacob Lorton, may have been a Ratliff (Ratcliff), but no proof has been found. Archibald says he was born in Ireland, and a Saunders-Akers researcher found a record that may be for John, Archibald's father, in a French and Indian War list published in a William and Mary College quarterly. We're still looking for him. Archibald was in the French and Indian War, and at the Virginia Library Electronic Card site, his and many allied family names are listed as recipients of land grants for service not only in the F&I War but also the Revolution. I'll be glad to send a draft transcript of the Diary to anyone who is interested. The Diary is owned by someone (unknown to me) in my family line and a copy is in the Monroe Co., Ky., library. The copy I got was made from the library copy and the page order is wrong; many entries are indecipherable, but most family records can be read. Thanks, Jemima Gee Morse