You are welcome, Cathy.

First I wouldn't put too much faith in the accuracy of ages listed in the early censuses. I have seen them off by as much as 20 years.

If I can help you with anything further on the Owens line, I'll be glad to try. That is a direct line of mine.

Yes, I know John Laird. We have corresponded for years. He has helped me and I hope I have helped him. Sometimes it is much easier to correspond directly than through the boards.

So far as the shipwreck story, I definitely wouldn't put any faith in that. I have heard shipwreck stories about half of the early Currituck Co. families, sometimes it two brothers and sometimes it's three. My own dear Mother told me a similar story about how the Guard/Gard family ended up in Currituck Co. I have no doubt she believed it because that is what she was told. Her ancestor was supposed to have been a cabin boy whose ship wrecked on the banks and he was the sole survivor. I have traced that line back to Accomack Co., VA where the ancestor was brought here as an indentured servant in the mid-1600's . . no ship wreck.

If I were looking for William Thompson, I would research the Thompsons who were already in the County and forget about the shipwreck.

Jean