Greetings, I'm putting this out in case anyone has any good ideas for another place to look. John Calderwood and Jean Bicket were married at Fenwick in 1832 and came to the U.S. (West Galway, NY) immediately thereafter. John died in Scot County, Iowa, in 1886 "in his 89th year". That much we know. We do not know his birth date. We do not know his parents names. We do not know if he was actually born at Fenwick or moved there from a neighboring parish sometime earlier. I've checked all the old parish registers and other church records I can find. Nothing. I've checked with Scott County, Iowa, and the State of Iowa. No death certificate. There were other Calderwoods from Fenwick who settled at West Galway, but no record shows any mention of how they might have been related. (I've found enough to know they would be cousins at most, because there was a John Calderwood in the other family.) I found a brief death notice, but it gives no indication of John's origins. I've corresponded with Scottish descendants of the most likely family of origin from Fenwick -- the Calderwoods who lived at Blackbyre -- and they agree he "might" be from their line, but no proof. I don't know any direct male descendants of the Blackbyre group, so there doesn't seem to be the DNA option. (The Blackbyre Calderwoods seem to have originated from a Calderwood family at Magbiehill in Stewarton, mid-18th century.) The only indication we have is the naming pattern, which indicates John's parents' names were probably James & Margaret, which would fit the Blackbyre group. The naming pattern fits on the maternal side of the equation (i.e. Jean Bicket's side), and their third son was named John, so it seems they did use the traditional pattern. Does anyone see any options I've missed? Anyone with any connections to the Blackbyre and/or West Galway Calderwoods have any additional clues that might help? Ken Cuthbertson Albuquerque, NM