The current (July 2005) Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography has an interesting article "Rescuing African American Kidnapping Victims" by Eric Ledell Smith. It is about children and young children - born free in Pennsylvania - kidnapped from the streets of Philadelphia and sold into slavery by criminal gangs. What has this to do with Scotch-Irish genealogy? The heroes of this 1825-1828 drama are John W. Hamilton, a planter in Claiborne Co. Mississippi, formerly of Amite Co, Mississippi, who rescued a group of black youngsters and returned them to their families in Philadelphia and John Henderson, a local attorney, later US Senator from Missisippi, who helped him. The author was unable to find anything about this John W. Hamilton. Perhaps he has kin on this list? If he were my g.g.g.uncle or married to some distant cousin, I'd be proud to claim him. All the best, Richard