WOW! George you are amazing. Perhaps Cornelius Deaton did not enlist in Texas. I have found him residing in Alabama at the 1850 Census, then living in Cherokee County, Texas at the 1880 Census. His pension was filed in Cherokee County, Texas.

Of the two Blackwell's that you listed, the 40 year old Joel Blackwell would be my gggg-grandfather as he was born in 1822.

I am confused about the second James (Austin) Priestly. Your final notation says that swore allegiance to the US in 1865 at age 21. It was my understanding and reported in the History of Cherokee County that James Austin Priestly fought in the Civil War with 5 of his sons. James Polk Priestly would have been one of these sons, and so James Austin should have been in his 40's. The ages don't quite match up. I have a little more research to do.

Thanks for all your help. Really amazing!