In my research I have noticed that Samuel Spears as well as his brothers all had a few slaves. It is not unusal for slaves to take on the name of their master as you are probably aware. It is a terrible bit of our history this slave issue that we must honesty approach when doing genealogy. I have more data on the family of Samuel Spears & maybe some of the names of slaves, for anyone who would like to contact me... I like to share. What I can quickly tell you is that Samuel Spears was a true American Frontiersman who lived and died cutting territory to the west. Jerri in VA Email jerri@garofalos.org