This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Lawson, Murrell Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/XeB.2ACE/3198.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Thomas Lawson Sr's children were "bad boys", and there are a lot of court minutes relating to them. Russell Lawson presents a special problem. My suspicion is that he was the boy living with Meredith Lawson 1840 with the Russell girls. But, alternately he could have been living with Alem, who lived next door in 1840. Around 1850, when Peter and Susan Lawson were prosecuted for adultery, the court listed witnesses "William Lawson son Thomas Lawson". At first, I thought that Thomas Lawson might be the son of Peter, but I have since found a document that leaves no doubt that Thomas Jr was the son of Thomas Sr. However, Peter Lawson did not have any boy of appropriate age living with him in 1840, so there is some mystery about who William was. Once I figured out that the son of Peter was probably William, I began looking for document relating to William. Thomas Lawson Jr sued Peter and Susan Lawson for a bail bond problem, and the property of Elizabeth and William Lawson were searched for Peter and Susan's property--probably livestock. We know that Elizabeth was the oldest daughter of Peter Lawson, so it fits. Between 1858 and 1863, a William Lawson was living on the former property of Peter Lawson. In the 1860 census, this appears to be the property of Russell Lawson. Also, a descendent of Russell Lawson said that an older relative told him that Russell's name was really William Russell. From the deed descriptions, it also appears that this property was very close to where Thomas Lawson Jr was living in 1860. So, this raises a lot of interesting questions. Why would Peter Lawson's son be living with Meredith Lawson? The only thing that I can think of that he was loaned out to Meredith to help out because he had those young girls in 1840 and was unmarried. Maybe Meredith and Peter married Russell sisters--I don't know for sure. Now, one implication of all of these documents is that we may be able to explain why Pleasant G. Murrell was living with Thomas Lawson Jr in 1860, and why many of the children of Pleasant G. Murrell went off to Ozark County, MO in the 1893 with Thomas Lawson Sr. I could be wrong, but I now strongly suspect that the Elizabeth Lawson who married Pleasant G. Murrell about 1856-57 was Elizabeth daughter of Peter Lawson. David