Family legend held that one of my great grandmothers was a direct descendant of an important figure in the Confederacy. I remember her photo in the newspaper over 50 years ago in attendance at some event honoring descendants. With the advent of genealogical research available online, a few years ago I was able to track descendants from the historical figure until past my great grandmother's birth. I then went backwards from her with birth records, census records, marriage records and cemetery records. The lines never intersected. Of course that doesn't explain everything and rule out other possibilities but it was enough for me, and disappointing to the rest of the family. Gil