Hi cousins, Item: Jim, Have you found where Fort Defiance was ???? #2. I've found a descendant from a sister of Isabella McCormick who married a John Spence on 2/6/1786 in Rockbridge county VA. Rockbridge formed from Augusta and Botetourt in 1778. Since we know that the Andersons were in the Ft. Defiance area, this John Spence may have also been in the same area, thereby making him a possible relative to our William Spence who married Mary Anderson. #3. Thomas Spence, Colonial Soldier. I wanted to clarify the term "Colonial Soldier" for those who do not know. Colonial Soldiers served well before the Revolution, primarily fighting against Indian attacks and uprisings. The soldiers of the Revolutionary era were known as Continential Soldiers, and sometimes the 2 terms are confused. When we say that Thomas Spence was a Colonial Soldier it means he served during the Colonial period which ended in 1775. A Colonial Soldier's life was a dangerous one to be sure, and many did indeed die during Indian attacks. If it is a fact that Thomas Spence was a Colonial Soldier that may explain why we can not find the proper documentation on him. He may have died young, and as was the custom, his children taken by relatives to raise, if his widow did not have the means to support the children, nor did she immediately remarry. The above scenario certainly explains the gaping holes in following Thomas' life. His widow may have also died before legislation was enacted to provide her a stipend for Thomas' services, thereby leaving no files for pension. It seems to me to be a logical explanantion for Burwell Spence's failure to name his parents in his own pension application. Also note that he said " he BELIEVED he was born in Bedford Co. VA, in 1763 ". Which statement was he unsure about ? Bedford County or 1763 ? Huh ????? I have to consider the fact that Thomas Spence may have also lived to a ripe old age. If so, he kept a low profile. It may turn out that one of the Thomas Spences' in Surry Co. NC was he. Let's keep our hopes up . #4. Hope everyone has seen Barbara's announcement regarding the Maryland line of Spences. That is wonderful. Looking forward to her book. She will be setting up the Spence surname board in GenConnect, so let's all be sure to post on that, and hopefully someday we can connect our Spences to the Maryland line. She is still working on a connection of Southampton Co. VA William Spence to the Maryland line. #5 We picked up a couple of new members over the weekend. Larry Spence has traced back to Brunswick Co. VA. His line may be out of Southampton county also byway of a son who never left the area. Let's hope so ! Also have Bette who descends this way: Burwell>Isom (Isham)> Nancy Spence who married Daniel Gardner. #6 I have been pursuing Keens and Baldwins and have been all over. I did find that there was a migration out of Surry/Wilkes Co. NC to Tazewell Co. VA between 1820 and 1830, which incidently is the same time frame our Spences showed up in Tazewell County VA. What I need is those with histories of Tazewell county to check on what could have been the reason all these people decided to go during that time period. Was there perhaps a iron mine, copper, gold mining, extremely cheap land prices, what ? What was the opportunity or industry they followed ? # 7. I just narrowly missed Dakota Holt again. She had posted queries in Surry Co. NC, but again her ISP has changed. She is on the same track we are, and it seems one step ahead. I'm curious how she descends from Burwell. Well, that is enough for now, Carolyn