I believe the JOHN LOUT you are asking about would have been my great-great-grandfather. My mother did quite a bit of genealogy research back in the 1960's and 70's. My mother's name was JESSIE LEONA SHADOIN, born in Benson, Louisiana, April 9, 1919. Her mother was ADDIE LUCILLE DAW, born December 13, 1898, in Shelbyville, Texas. Her mother was SARAH MOLLIE LOUT, born January 6, 1865, in Shelby County, Texas, and died May 19, 1910. She was married in 1884 to JOHN W. DAW, born April 11, 1861, in Louisiana, and died October 28, 1914. Mollie Lout's father was JOHN LOUT, according to my mother's notes from her mother, born July 6, 1830, in Texas (possibly Shelby County). He was married to an ELIZABETH BOLES, born about 1838, possibly in Mississippi. John Lout and Elizabeth Boles apparently also had a son named ZACK LOUT, born June 5, 1872. Sallie, I don't know how much you know about Shelby County, and I don't know very much. I have been through there several times, but have never lived there. I do know that there used to be a very few years ago a Lout Furniture Store in Center, Texas, and the building is still there with the painted name Lout still visible, but the current business is something else now. The Boles name is also very common in that area -- there used to be a Boles Feed Store not more than one long block from the Lout Furniture Store, but that feed store is now closed. There is also a Boles Field out in the Sabine National Forest just east of Shelbyville. It is the site of the National Cemetery for championship coon dogs. I really don't have much more information unless you are interested in the DAW line. My mother died 7 years ago, and we have no further contact with any of her family in that area; however, there are still many Daw's within Shelby County and around. I would certainly appreciate hearing from you and from anyone else in Shelby County who can shed any light on these families. Sterlin E. Barton, Jr. Austin, Texas