Re: Who are the Parents of (Stephen) Giles Letcher born abt 1710 in N Ireland ?

There was a Robert Davidson (died about 1751) in Augusta Co., VA who married Ann (said to have been Ann Dunlap).Robert Davidson had apparently come to VA from PA in the 1730s or so.Robert and Ann had a daughter named Mary/Margaret Davidson who married a Robert Houston/Huston, and they were the ancestors of General Sam Houston mentioned in your post (and as you also state, a Mary Houston from this combined Houston/Davidson family married John Letcher....the grandfather of Governor John Letcher of VA).

Robert and Ann Davidson also had a son who was named John Davidson.John and his wife Elizabeth (Elizabeth is said to have been either a Houston or a Maben) had a son of their own who was named John Davidson "II" (born 1757), and John "II" married Mary Thompson in 1787.John and Mary (Thompson) Davidson had a daughter named Elizabeth (I think it was) who married William Houston Letcher (mentioned in your post), and they were the parents of Governor John Letcher of VA.So....it appears that Governor John Letcher had "two connections" to the above Davidson family in his lineage, including his mother.

Governor John Letcher had a man named Lt./Captain Greenlee Davidson as his recruitment officer in Richmond, VA during the early stages of the War Between the States.Later, Captain Greenlee Davidson was killed at the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, while fighting in what was commonly called "Letcher's Artillery."Governor John Letcher named one of his own sons Greenlee Davidson Letcher, and I can only assume that this son was named in honor of Captain Greenlee Davidson.

It is interesting to note that DNA testing on some living Davidson males (combined with a lot of "conventional research") shows that Captain Greenlee Davidson was from a different/unrelated Davidson family, versus the above Robert Davidson who married Ann, Mary/Margaret Davidson who married Robert Houston, John Davidson who married Elizabeth and John Davidson "II" who married Mary Thompson.

Over in Buckingham Co., VA, an apparent ancestor of the above Captain Greenlee Davidson named David Davidson (born circa-1715) married a woman who was named Mary Giles (she MAY not have been David's first and only wife, but no proof either way).There was a man named Josiah Giles in Mary's family, and that was, no doubt, why the apparent last two sons of David Davidson (died about 1798) and Mary Giles were named Giles Davidson (born about 1762) and Josiah Davidson (born about 1767).This Davidson family (part of my own overall Davidson family) has been "traced back" to James City Co., VA by at least 1682....and as stated above, they were NOT related to the "Davidson ancestors" of Governor John Letcher.

I do not know if the apparent "close connection" between Governor John Letcher (who was a descendant of GILES Letcher) and Captain Greenlee Davidson (who was an apparent descendant of the David Davidson who had married Mary GILES) is a "clue" that the Perrin Giles/Mary Giles family in VA and Giles Letcher had some kind of "Giles family connection," versus if the "Giles name" in each family was just a coincidence.