Hello lister's, The list has been slow lately, but I am sure that is because of the upcoming holiday, of which I would like to say to all, "MERRY CHRISTMAS" I have saw some interesting information and questions going across some of the list's, and I have recieved some interesting e-mail as of late, concerning the Father of Abner Vance b. 1753-63, place unk? m. Susannah Howard b. 1767. The name Ephraim Vause, Vanse, Vance, Voss has been showing up from several sources in my mail, I have been researching Ephraim Vance, Vause, Vanse, Voss for some time now, I have found him in and around the Shenandoah Valley during the mid 1700's. From what I have found he owned a fair amout of land around Christiansburg Va. in the mid 1700's. He also built a fort about 10 miles West of Christiansburg, called Fort Vause. This fort was attacked by Shawnee in the summer of 1756, Ephraim's wife and one or more of his children were taken captive at that time. His wife (I have been told) was later killed in PA. and never returned to Ephraim. One daughter did return in 1763 after peace was established with the Indians. Ephraim Vance, Vause, Vanse, Voss can be found in volumes of The Scotch- Irish Settlement In Virginia, he is referred to several times. He finally left Va. and went to the Carolinas, I believe to the area of Dobbs co. NC. There is no reference to Ephraim being the father of Abner Vance in any of the volumes that I have saw. This is not to say that he wasn't, it's just that there has been no proof as of yet to prove it. I have Theodosia Hewlings listed as the wife of Ephraim Vause, Vance, Vanse, Voss, they were married in Philadelphia Co. Pa. on 11-Jul-1738, Theodosia Hewlings was the daughter of Jacob Hewlings and Dorothy Eves, Theodosia was b. abt. 1722. I have more info about the Hewlings family if anyone is interested. Ephraim had a son named William Vause that served in the war, William had a daughter named Theodosia Vause. Ephraim also had a son named Jessee Vause that lived in NC. William Vause (I believed lived in Va.) It is also said (but not proved) that Ephraim had a daughter named Elizabeth "Deliz" Vance that married (Joseph?) Hatfield, Elizabeth was born in the Isles Of Wight Co. Va. abt 1735, (a little early for Theodosia to be her mother) according to my source there was no mother listed for Elizabeth, however, when she married (Joseph?) Hatfield her name was listed as Elizabeth Vance Smith??. Which leads me to believe that she may have been married twice. I have also been told that Ephraim came from Ireland, but I don't know this for sure. There are a lot of unknowns about Ephraim Vause, Vance, Vanse, Voss, and Abner Vance. I think there are some people that are afraid to say anything about Abner's parents, or who they may have been, but I would like to find out what everyone thinks, and have some more insight to this age old question! I also have heard from sources (No proof tho) as to who Ephraim's parents were! A lot of this information came from different CD disks that some people feel are incorrect, (I hold judgement on these disks until I find out if they are right or not) As to the parents of Ephraim, I feel that I may cause a real controversy if I list their names, so for now I will not do that, however I will list them at a later date even if I don't find the info. to prove who they were. I will be listing information that I have from time to time on the list. This information will be about the Vance family and families related to the Vance family. I will not claim that all of the information that I list will be exact, it will be what I have, if I list something that someone knows to be wrong I would appreciate them letting me know, because I am looking for the truth, I want to know for sure where I came from as I'm sure the rest of you do to. I realize that the information that I have listed above may be controversial, and is not the same information that other people have, but this is the best bet yet as to who Abner's father was! I look for the truth, and if bringing controversial information out in the open is what it takes to get to that truth, then I am your man. I truly hope that I have not offended anyone, for that is not my intention. Look for other posts (some controversial, and some not) I am going to list all the information that I have over the next few weeks, that is if I don't get kicked off of the list!!! I look forward to any comments, or replies, both on the list or privately, my address is below. Tim Vance 4th Great Grandson of Abner Vance & Susannah Howard. [email protected]