Hi Rhonda

Yes, this is exciting!

About Claren and how he got the Melrose name ... My grandfather Claren Melrose Neal lived part of his life in Silver Bow, Montana and worked at a mine there.

While doing a web search on this area, one result came up MELROSE, Silver Bow, Montana. I had never seen the Melrose name in relation to Silver Bow before. I was stunned!! There is a fascinating story behind how the city was named Melrose, which can be found on Wikipedia under Melrose, Montana. Apparently it was named after William Bowe's stepdaughter Melrose Fleser.

What makes this interesting from my standpoint is that Claren Melrose Neal was born in Missouri, so was given the Melrose middle name before his parents moved first to Gillette, Wyoming in about 1917-18, then later to Lodge Grass, Montana. Claren must have moved to Melrose, Silver Bow after 1938 or so, because my Dad was born and raised in Lodge Grass and Dad never lived in Silver Bow.

Since you are on ancestry, have you also downloaded your raw data to GEDmatch? We have downloaded our ancestry and Family Tree DNA ancestry.

Looking forward to hearing from you again!

Diane