I'm interested in reopening a theory Ethel Temple Jensen(my mother) was working on 25 years ago, but was discounted by 2 separate genealogy research professionals at the time, concerning THOMAS TEMPLE and his first wife SARAH WRIGHT TEMPLE. I am searching for THOMAS'S history before his first documented arrival in Union Co. Ohio. My 3g-grandfather died August 9, 1772 and was buried in the Temple family plot on the family land in Union Co. Ohio. His headstone read - "Died August 9, 1845, age 73 yrs., 3 mos., 20 days". Calculating that, I come with his birthdate as April 20, 1772. THOMAS was married twice(that we are aware). His first wife was SARAH WRIGHT. To our knowledge, his only surviving child from this marriage was JOSEPH b. Feb. 23, 1801 (in PA. according to the 1880 census record given by his son JOSEPH, JR). THOMAS purchased land on July 11, 1829 in Norwich Twp., Franklin Co. Ohio. He married JANE BRITTON around 1814. They had 11 children(one not verified). Here's the mystery. In Some Temple Pedigrees by Levi Temple(taken from Concord MA Vital Records, page 387 - plus I have a attested record by the town clerk of Concord), there was a THOMAS TEMPLE who married a SARAH WRIGHT in Ipswich NH(now MA) on June 12 1802. This would be one year after JOSEPH TEMPLE'S birthdate. This THOMAS AND SARAH had 4 known children: SARAH TEMPLE B. July 15 1803, THOMAS WRIGHT TEMPLE b. Dec. 14, 1804, MARY ANN TEMPLE b. Oct. 14 1809, and LOVE TEMPLE, b. 4 June 1811. We have tentative proof that our SARAH WRIGHT TEMPLE died in 1813. The above mentioned THOMAS was born Sept. 9, 1770. This would be approx. 1 1/2 years off from our Ohio THOMAS, according to his gravestone. In the 1880 census, our Ohio THOMAS' children and grandchildren gave incredibly differing information as to who their grandfather was and where he was born, so it could stand to reason that when carving his headstone, they came up with the wrong date. The puzzle with our Ohio THOMAS is, where was he from his birth of @1772 to 1829. His oldest living child was born in 1801, his next child born in 1815, by his second wife JANE BRITTON TEMPLE. 1. Could the THOMAS and SARAH found in the Concord MA records been ours? They were married in 1802. If so, what happened to their 4 children, born between 1803-1811? Was there have been an epidemic in Middlesex Co around 1812? 2. Could Joseph have been a child from an even earlier marriage(or even illegitimate)? JOSEPH'S records show SARAH as his mother - she raised him, after all. THOMAS was 29 in 1801, fairly old for a first marriage? 3. We know that the parents of the Concord THOMAS were PETER (d. Jan 28, 1820) and LOIS (d. Mar 28?, 1816)TEMPLE. They had an agreement with THOMAS, that he would inherit their estate if he took care of them in their old age. I found a THOMAS TEMPLE and wife and 15 year old child listed in the MA census of 1830. I don't know if this would be the same Concord THOMAS or not. To clarify some of this, I would need what? 1. Possible death records of the Concord children. 2. More information on the THOMAS listed in the 1830 Middlesex census - is this the original Concord THOMAS with his youngest child still at home? Or a different THOMAS altogether. 3. Did Massachusetts have birth and death records in 1800-1813? Ohio didn't until 1867. 4. Is there an earlier marriage record for the Concord THOMAS? 5. Could there be a history of Middlesex Co. MA from 1750-1820? Possibly the PETER AND LOIS are mentioned. Thank you to whoever has read through all of this. I hope I haven't made any errors. I'm open to all suggestions. Linda