Pat, What wonderful information! My grandmother once commented that, as much time as she spent sitting on the porch with Olive Peters Willson, they never talked about her family or where they were from. I thought that some day I'd get around to checking into her. I knew that she was related to the Durdens but didn't know how. I visited Chester last summer, and a cousin told me that the Durdens were among the largest slave owners in the area and that there are many Black families there today named Darden (variation on Durden). Also, the story exists that there was some Indian blood in the family. Looking at pictures of Olive, I think it was in her family. Olive(1858-1943) married March 5, 1875 (don't laugh) Sir John Franklin Willson (1851-1932). They had 7 sons and 3 daughters. My grandfather, Reuben H., was about in the middle of the pack. He died abt 6 months after he and my grandmother married. Luckily for me, she was pregnant with my mother, Frances Kathryn Willson. Grandmother took his body home to Chester from San Antonio (she grew up in Cotulla, La Salle Co.) then came to CA. Her parents had moved here due to her father's poor health. Six years later (1922), she m. Reuben's brother, Sam. Sam died in CA in the '30s. My grandmother was a wonderful writer and always kept in touch with the Willson family. About this strange name - Sir John.......There is no known family story that explains it. He went by Frank. While watching Jeopardy last year, the answer to one of the questions was Sir John Franklin. I immediately checked the encyclopedia; he was a famous British explorer who was lost and found (dead) in the Artic while looking for the Northwest passage abt. 1850. Frank must have been named for him. Very strange..... About La Salle Co......in 1914, Uncle John (the oldest of Frank and Olive's children) and my grandfather were living there. John was a lawyer in the town of Cotulla; my grandfather was teaching school in the surrounding area while he studied for the bar. I suppose that it's possible that Isaac Peters died there, but Frank and Olive were still alive....maybe he just went to visit and died there. About Aunt Claude.....She m. Hiram Abiff Willson, another of the children of Frank and Olive....he was the baby. His brother Henry m. Ida Tennie Thomas. Aunt Tennie's father was Joseph Laffette Thomas who was the son of David Thomas and Patience Hammond. Patience was the sister of John Elmo Hammond (m Isabella Pickens) who was the father of Martha Ann Hammond, mother of Satira Bates, mother of Claudia Ninon Bates. This is what I have for Martha Ann and M. P. Jones: Descendants of James Allen Jones 1 James Allen Jones b: February 11, 1834 in Wayne Co., MS d: July 10, 1907 in Barnum, Texas +Martha Ann Hammond b: September 03, 1848 in Butler Co., Alabama d: March 24, 1940 in Lufkin, Texas Father: John Elmo Hammond mother: Isabella Pickens 2 Isabella Ibby Jane Jones b: May 26, 1881 in Piney Creek, Texas d: November 25, 1970 in San Antonio, Texas +Charles Winchester Fuller b: April 26, 1871 in Newton Co., Texas d: January 10, 1941 in Houston, Texas 2 Charles Lafayette Jones b: December 26, 1882 in Barnum, Texas d: 1961 in Lufkin, Texas +Clemie Tarver 2 child Jones 2 Manton P. Jones +Lucy C. Watts Father: Watts 3 Manton P. Jones, Jr. 4 Pat Jones Does this look right, so far? I have been in touch with a Hammond descendent, Ginger Buckaloo in Houston, from whom I have received all of my info on that family. If you're interested, I could send you a FTM file or GEDCOM. Thanks so much for replying!! I am so delighted to have more information and to make contact with someone researching this family. Brenda Perkins Huntington Beach, CA ------------------------------