I perhaps should have given more info on my Alexander Forbes ancestor. He is documented from Sept 17, 1777 in New York onward. Discharged from the 38th Foot there in Oct 1783 and migrated with loyalists and disbanded soldiers to Port Roseway (Shelburne) NS and received a land grant there in 1785. Married Phebe DENNIS in NS in 1790 and had 11 children. Have genealogy of life and family descendents in Nova Scotia, Canada. I am a 3rd Ggranddaughter. Family legend says he was born a Highlander, in ROC, "in a place surrounded by the sea on two sides, and left/ran away in late teens and enlisted after his mother died". That is about all I know of his birthplace and early life. He had good penmanship, and on only one document apparently signed FORBAS (? error). He was resourceful, and acquired several grants over the years and was a skilled seaman, and he and his sons were seamen, carpenters, and merchants. Alexander was never known to have returned to Scotland after going to NS. What I am missing is previous to NY in Sept 1777. Do not know how he came to join the Reg there, and birth family not substantiated, though thought in the 1970's to be John Forbes and Jean Thompson of Cromarty. The Forbes/Urquhart family names are all repeated in his children, that is why I am inclined to be interested in this family's timeline. Thanks to all who took time to share info with me. Thought you might enjoy the story. I know there are many strays whose records are lost, but sometimes you just never know who has the info you need to connect. Carol Vater [email protected]