This is a very interesting kinship that I only discovered about 10 minutes ago. I have been researching the outlaw Perry "Kinch" West and, seperately, the Lefors brothers (Perry, Joseph, Rufe, and Newton) and found on the 1850 Federal Census that their families were both living in Dade Co., MO...even more surprising was that they are on the same census page. I did a little digging and it turns out that the Lefors' mother, Martha Mahala (West) Lefors, is the first cousin of Perry "Kinch" West...making the Lefors brothers 1st Cousins once removed to Kinch.

I am currently working on an article on Kinch West and another on the Lefors brothers for upcoming issues of the Oklahombres Journal.

The Lefors brothers are very interesting in that Perry was a deputy sheriff in the Texas Panhandle; Joseph was a cattle inspector, deputy U.S. marshal, and deputy sheriff in Wyoming and was the man who "snookered" Tom Horn into his confession of killing 14-year-old Willie Nickel; Rufus "Rufe" was a police officer at Lawton and also a deputy sheriff and later Sheriff for Comanche County, Oklahoma. Newton Lefors [the last name often misspelled as Laforce or Leforce] was a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas and was killed in the line of duty.

Thanks for posting this. When will the ("I am currently working on an article on Kinch West and another on the Lefors brothers for upcoming issues of the Oklahombres Journal.") issues come out?

Do you have info on Martha Mahala West's family? I've always been curious about her family.

Thanks,
Martha.