I have worked on the Lee County Virginia/Kentucky families for a long time now. I saw where someone claimed Ransom's parents were Levi and Mary from England. I do not think this is true. When you look at a map and follow migration patterns it seems highly likely Ransom was indeed related to Levi and Mary, but they stayed in the United States and stated they were both born in Virginia. The 1840 Lee census has Levi between 20 and 30 with 2 sons under 5 years old, 1 son between 10 and 15, no daughters and a wife between 30 and 40 Levi and Mary show up in 1850 in Hancock, Tennessee as follows: Levy Eldridge 38 born VA Mary 40 born VA Alexandria 15 Andrew 14 Joshua 12 William 8 Elizabeth 4 The problem I came across was this family unit accounts for the 2 sons under 5 in 1840 and the 1 son between 5 and 10. It also accounts for Mary being in the older age group as she would have been 30 in 1840 and Levi 28. That would put her in the 30-40 group and him in the 20-30 group. The problem I encountered was where was Ransom in 1840 if he was their son. Ransom could have been 13 and between Joshua and Andrew or a twin as there are a number of twins in the Eldridge lines, but he should still have been in their household in 1840 when he was about 4. There was only a matter of a few miles between the families in 1850. Hancock and Claiborne Tennessee both are just across state line from Lee County VA. Ransom marries in 1857 in Claiborne County to Martha Harris. Her sister marries William Eldridge, son of Levi and Mary. The naming pattern persists with Ransom naming sons Alexander, Joshua and William. In 1870 Ramson, William, Alexander and their families, as well as Levi and Mary Polly are all living in Pulaski, Kentucky. This makes it, again, highly likely Ransom was a relative, if not a son, of Levi and Mary. There were only 2 other Eldridge families in Lee in 1840. One was a widow between 70-80. The other was a widow, Nancy. Neither had a son under 5. They all lived nearby making it likely they were all related. I'll have to go through some more of my Eldridge data and see if there is anything else. You probably have all this information already so let me know if you want me to continue searching my records. Zahn Burdick **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out! (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000001)