Fran--looking forward to the John F WEST info. Thanks! I still strongly suspect we are looking for the same James WEST, born abt 1808. We have corresponded about him some time back. Mine came from NC, I think with the POOL family, who Henry Clay WEST b 1842 Mo, married into. Some accounts say they came from Bladen Co, others say Rowan Co. At any rate I know it was on Muddy Creek, NC and I don't know where the Co lines ran in 1835 when they left for Mo. The POOLs migrated with the families McElROY, ROSE, BEDWELL, & HOUK, who are all related, and I expect James and Elizabeth WEST were with them as they all got there about the same time, and were all neighbors in Lafayette Co. Mo. I expect if I can find these names all in a community in NC about 1830, I will Bingo. Virginia