Thank you so much for this information. Nathaniel's father was Samuel Laird, although it appears he was born around 1784 and emigrated to the US in 1830 (possibly).

This still gives me some areas to focus on. It's helpful to know that there weren't many Lairds in that area.

I actually descend from two different Laird lines, both of which originated in Scotland but I haven't been able to get beyond Ireland. The other Laird line is through Hugh Smith Laird, who was born around Down in 1807.

To complicate things further, according to family stories at least one of those lines changed their name to Laird when they fled Scotland sometime in the 1600s.

This is truly a puzzle! I thank you again for taking the time to respond to this thread.

- Jane Richards