Barbara, In your postings on Thursday, you mentioned the Tinkling Springs in Augusta County VA. In our Spence-Bluford mailing list group, we have worked on the history of Tinkling Springs. The original church (Presbyterian) was known as the Tinkling Springs Meeting House. It was also the site of Fort Defiance, and the site is now known as the Old Stone Church on Rt 11 at Verona, VA, near Staunton. This area was originally a part of Orange Co. VA, before becoming Augusta County. The area was settled about 1740. The reason the Spence-Bluford group was researching the area is because we have a Jane Bluford who married a James Spence and resided in Augusta County. One of their sons, William Spence married Mary Anderson on 5-26-1792 there in the Old Stone Church. The Anderson family were one of the first settlers of the region. Another son of James & Jane Bluford Spence, namely James, married Jane Palmer before 1790. The Palmers were also one of the first families, getting land in 1740, and Jane Palmer's father William Palmer was living there in 1744. One Thomas Spence was serving as a Colonial Soldier under Capt. Ephraim Love, there in Augusta County in 1758. We think possibly this Thomas Spence was the father of James Spence born ca. 1748, who married Jane Bluford. The early Augusta records also yielded a Absolom Spence mentioned in 1760. Another William Spence was bound out to Sampson Matthews in 1760. So, that is where our group is stumped. I thought it might be a connection to the other families that you ran across, who originated around Tinkling Springs....... Hoping ! We do not know if these early Augusta Spence families came from the Westmoreland line, the Southampton line, or were recent immigrants to the area. Any help appreciated... Thanks, Carolyn Spence Listowner: Spence-Bluford group