JR,Thanks for all the info. What definitely clicks is Sam Cooke in the 1930 u.s.census from ironton, oh and the Sam Cooke with the w.w.1. record is my great uncle Sam. He was a wonderful man, I knew him well. He was quite the citizen soldier. When he got out of the gaurd he was a lt. col. and our local armory is called Cookes Armory,after him. My grandfather, his brother was born in Ironton 12/23/97. His name was Henry Augustus Cooke. He was a bricklayer. Thier father Augustus Henry Cooke was a bricklayer and owned and operated 2 brickyards where he made brick. I have several great pictures of the operation. To maybe clear up some confusion, My dad Henry Augustus Cooke went by that name all his life it was'nt until he signed up for social security that he realized his real name was Augustus Henry. I think these fellows just switched them around to what they liked best. My dad always said he was the 5th Henry Augustus in a row handed down from father to son and Henry always had a brother Sam. (my dad has a brother sam too). My great uncle Sam the colonel, always told me that myself and my brother were 6th generation bricklayers. We are very proud of that. You don't see too much of that family tradition any more. My grandpa Henry being born in 1897 would I guess put his dad(my great grandpa) born 25-30 years earlier? Possibly 1865-1870 and his dad (my great great grandpa possibly around 1840. I think great,great g.p. was the one born in V.A. and came to Ohio? I've also been told that one of the brothers possibly my great, great gp's, had a farm on the Kentucky side of the river, I believe in boyd or greenup county where, as the story goes he had on this farm powerful big buck slaves where other slave owners would send thier females for breeding. My great uncle Sam says they would come by the bargeful to his place to be bred. I say these things in all sincerity and no malice to my fellow man. It was a way of life then, good or bad. So I'm going to digest some of the fine info, you and others have sent me. i am very happy to see that so many are interested and give freely of thier time. I do know where my great g.p. and great great g.p. tombstones are. I could nail down some dates next time I'm back in Ohio.(woodland cemetery in Ironton, Ohio). Thanks John Cooke