Hi again Teresa, Reuben CLEMENTS is generally documented via Maggie Sudduth and the Tuscaloosa Gen. Group. There just isn't any strong evidence to make the connection to Charles jr or sr. Jest FYI, in 1817 Judge Harry Toulmin ('stationed' and living in Mobile at the time) sends a petition in to the gov or to the congress, I forget which, wherein they are attempting to protect the upcoming demarcation between MS and AL. Quite a few signers of the petition out of the few "counties" in the "District of Alabama", including one Solomon STEWART of "Monroe County" which was just about all of Alabama at the time. Remember also he was enumerated in 1816 in same District, so after about 5 or 6 years of living in TN, he and his purported brothers and possibly cousins are appearing to be rooting around, probably in the Black Warrior or Tombigbee River environments. All of these guys were plantation / farming focused and now apparently possibly squatter / land focused, and wound up eventually getting land that was either conducive to farming, unique to the Black Belt of Alabama, or closer to river transportation (i.e. Black Warrior or Tombigbee or Alabama Rivers). In 1818, (the year in which my GG Grandfather was born, and at least one of the census entries says place of birth as "Alabama," I believe), Solomon Stewart spends six months enlisted and at Fort / Camp Montgomery. He doesn't "formally" get into Alabama until 1821 when he and his purported brother Reuben are lined up at the Huntsville Land Office to buy 80 acre parcels, and thence both of them apparently onward to Marion and Fayette Counties to do their thing. (Why they chose that area is a mystery to me). I believe they started off winding up at what's called Moore's Bridge near (not far from Tuscaloosa / Northport, or at least that's the tradition as told by descendants of Reuben and William STEWART (and I believe they cited 1818 / 1819 as the timeline for that!). Best I can figure, Reuben, (William), may have been into AL by 1819; Solomon probably had to wrap up things in Lincoln County, TN (LCT) and got in formally by 1821, and Larkin and Johanna (Walter Harkins) Stewart must have had a similar task: to clean up and clear out of Lincoln County, TN (see Tuscalloosa land grant for Walter Harkins, cited as from Lincoln County, TN). Larkin was operating on the "Barren Fork" of the West Fork of the Flint River, Walter Harkins and Johanna lived on "Stewart's Creek" off of the Elk River, and Reuben, William, Charles, and probably Benjamin lived on the "West Fork" of the Flint River. They appear to have had an interactive thing going, possibly with two goals: 1) getting products to market via the waters available 2) perhaps land speculation in LCT, and 3) perhaps biding time for AL opportunities Almost the same scenario becomes apparent once they are formally into AL. Once again with Larkin at the bottom of the paths (according to some researchers, he eventually buys his own steamboat to transport cotton to Mobile.). And Solomon had eventually made his way from Marion County to Tuscaloosa (I believe Tuscaloosa was the capital at the time), and then by about 1828-1829 to Perry County (part of the rich fertile Black Belt). Benjamin appears to be active in 1818 in Bibb county overseeing road building to Tuscaloosa, and shows up in a land transaction in 1826 in Tuscaloosa with Solomon, and in the Tuscaloosa County census in 1830 (with an 80-yr old female as part of the household). There's another land transaction in Tuscaloosa with Benjamin, with his wife Nancy (W. Pullam) Stewart signing ("X - her mark") Yepper, I feel for me too, Teresa! :-) And for the others who are temprarily bogged down in the mud. My aunt is the one that got me started in all this STEWART stuff, and it's all over me! Now, I'm stuck in the mud and I can't get it off of me! :-) I hate to wait another 5 years until I'm 60 and retired to resolve all of this, but it may come to that. And it will be a wild and wooly RV -based hunting party! CALLING ALL STEWARTS!!!! :-) Cheers from a sunny 6600 ft, Dick Stewart Colorado ======================== (from TS-de-Rios) The original Mississippi Territory created by the U.S. Congress in1798 was a strip of land extending about 100 miles north to south and from the Mississippi River to the Chattahoochee on the Georgia border. The territory was increased in 1804 and 1812 to reach from Tennessee to the Gulf. In 1817 the western part achieved statehood as Mississippi (the eastern part became the state of Alabama in 1819). Natchez, the first territorial capital, was replaced in 1802 by nearby Washington, which in turn was replaced by Jackson in 1822. Now, I am sure MS suffered great damage through records in the Civil War, recall Vicksburg? Reuben Clements ands son such as Hardy were documented since at least 1824 in MS territ. Why not research Reuben, his wife was Elizabeth Stewart and a sister to your Charles JR. Hardy Clements left is finger prints all over MS,.he was a surveyor. I don`t think it would be wise to dig up a body for DNA, there might not be much DNA left too. You`d need a different kind of lab for that kid of DNA testing and the cost would be great. I feel for you Dick, I am still searching for all these years. The Deep South is a nightmare for research, thanks to Gen Sherman. Teresa