Morning Bryan... Thanks again....It was a long shot anyway.. We know that he died in 1862 Van Buren, Ar. and that he is buried in unknown cemetery, Ft. Smith, AR. and that he died of measles. This is all based on an interview his son gave in the 1930s to a Louisiana newspaper. The family assumes that he was in the Confederate Army, but have no idea from which state. The family lived in TN, MS, AR, and LA. So I tried them all in hopes of getting a result. Somewhere there is a record otherwise son would not have know about VB or Ft. Smith. I'll give Irwin and Erwin also with a v a try... thanks for the tip. By the way what did you do in the Navy?? DB