This is an absolute shot in the dark but I'm at a brick wall.

I've seen several posts about Lairds in Giles County. My Lairds are Samuel (b. about 1784 in Ireland), his wife, Catharine (b. about 1783), and their children, Eliza (b. 1815), Nathaniel (b. 1818), James (b. 1820). All children were born in Ireland. Nathaniel's obituary shows he was born in Londonderry.

They arrived in U.S. in 1830 and must have immediately gone to Giles County. That leads me to believe they may have had family of some sort there. They weren't there long. I have information that shows Nathaniel (my gggrandfather) back in Pittsburgh in 1834. He was only 16 so I assume the rest of the family was there, too.

Eliza remained in Pennsylvania, married and raised family there. Samuel and Catharine ended up in Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. Nathaniel was a bit of a wanderer but after marriage lived in Jo Daviess County and finally Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa, where he raised his family.

Does any of this ring a bell out there?