Hello All, I was able to purchase a copy of the book "Old Oxford and Her Families" and have just reviewed the Steele pedigree for the Augusta Co. Steeles in the back of the book. While the author (Geo. West Diehl) does not note Richard Steele as the famous man of English Letters, Sir Richard Steele, he does list the wives of Sir Richard as the wives of the Richard Steele he cites in his book. Thus it would appear that this is just another version of the same old misinformation as to the descendents of Sir Richard. That is to say, the Steeles of Augusta Co. are not descendents of Sir Richard. Ernest Thompson -----Original Message----- From: ernest B Thompson <ebt@coastside.net> To: Mikesell4132@aol.com <Mikesell4132@aol.com> Cc: Roy Thompson <rtprop@attglobal.net>; STEELE-L@rootsweb.com <STEELE-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 5:48 PM Subject: The "Steeles of Steele's Tavern" -- Rockbridge and Augusta Co.'s VA Hi Shirley, I am a descendent of Sam Steele and M. Fulton (Mary, Margaret or Martha depending on the source.) Over a period of years I have found these ancestors very difficult to research. Two things of which I am confident -- (1) Sam. was not a descendent of the famous Irish "man of Letters -- Sir Richard Steele. (2) The book " The Steeles of Steele's Tavern" which documents this line does have errors. Difficult to say what is fact and what is error in the book. I once saw a source for the father of M. Fulton, but the source was a data base that no one could validate. I believe these Steeles were certainly Scotch/Irish and were all related. Their farms were all near our adjacent and all the farms acquired about the same time in Beverly/Borden Manors. A great number of the participants in STEELE-L@rootsweb.com are descendants of these Steeles, but in several years, I have never seen anyone with their pedigree before VA. Regards, Ernest Thompson