Cousins, I wanted to announce that I was contacted from someone who wants to set up our listing on Cyndi Howell's list and 3 other biggies. Isn't that great ? Every day I check the members and we pick up a couple more. Don't be shy. Jump on into the discussions ! I'm making the last call for a copy of "The Man Who Moved a Mountain " for those who want one. I've got you Jim. I'm going to Hillsville on Nov. 14th & 15th, and can pick up some copies, but I'll need to know how much cash to take, since the book store won't take checks from out of state or credit cards. I'm getting copies of our SPENCE chart ready to go also. When I get time I will work on our webpage at Rootsweb. They have notified me that they can save our messages 2 ways, interactive search, and threaded search, just as we had a E-groups. I did a study on the given names of the ladies for 3 generations of Spence families in Tazewell and Carroll. This gave me some interesting results. Since the men folk all seemed to have William, John and James, I discounted those. Spence/Bluford line Burwell Spence line Mary 8 8 Louisa 3 none Rebecca 2 4 Sarah 2 8 Rachel 2 2 Martha 4 4 Margaret 3 none Nancy none 4 If this is any indication of a naming pattern of older family members, it looks like the Bluford line favored Margaret and Louisa, while the Burwell line favored Nancy, Sarah and Rebecca. Looking at that information one could possibly sort out a family into one line or the other. The male name William was favored by the Bluford line 10 to 3. Joseph, however and Benjamin only appear in Burwell's families. At any rate, it gives us a clue. I have been reading various articles and books to get a better understanding of the region's history. Sara has a family tradition of Presbyterian Spence's and I came across this article on the Upper New River Valley website. QUOTE The churches of the Upper New River valley were key elements of 18th and 19th century society. The first settlers of the region were mainly Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutherans or Quakers when they arrived in Grayson County. There were some notable early attempts to establish churches of these denominations, however only the Quakers were successful in organizing a congregation which still functions in the area. The churches of the frontier assumed some functions normally associated with the court system and dealt with many offenses which might be considered misdemeanors, such as excessive drinking, back-biting, illegitimate children or indebtedness. Other church functions were related to preserving doctrinal orthodoxy. whether the free-will doctrine of the Methodist or Calvinistic predispositions of the Presbyterians and Baptists. The normally stoic Baptist and Presbyterians stood in marked contrast to the more emotional "shouting" Methodists. The Presbyterians, could not supply ministers to their efforts to establish churches in the Upper New River Valley and soon "died out", actually converted to become Baptists. Land records indicate that there was a Presbyterian church in what is now Carroll County by 1776 and another on Grassy Creek in either Ashe or Grayson County by 1773. The later church was pastored by Rev. John Black, but did not survive past the close of the Revolution. END QUOTE I found it interesting too that to the Primitive Baptists, it was an insult to call their ministers, Reverend. They were called Elders. The Clerks of Court referred to them as Rev. So and So. Maybe that's why they wouldn't turn in their lists of marriages in a timely manner ? :)) On the list of early ministers of the region, our personal favorites, John Cock, Nathaniel Thompson, George Quesenberry and William Thompson don't have an affiliation with a denomination listed. They attended and were clerks and Elders of the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church, but weren't listed as primitive Baptist ministers. ( Verrrrrry interesting ! ) I try to learn something new everyday. I think I met my quota for today. Happy hunting, Carolyn