Good Morning, One of the key links in my DANIEL family of Burke and Jefferson County, GA has always been the family of Rev. Nicholas MURPHEY of Hephzibah. Richmond County, GA because his daughter, Mary MURPHEY (ABT 1815-BEF 1840), married my GGU, James L. DANIEL (1814-1857) in 1834 in Richmond County, GA. . James L. and Mary Murphey DANIEL had a daughter, Nancy Collins DANIEL (1834-1890) who married Timothy DONOVAN (1832-1895) ABT 1855 and both Tim and Nancy are buried in Bethany Cemetery (east), Wadley, Jefferson County, GA. I also know that John COLLINS (b. ABT 1760) of Beaufort County, NC was the father of the wife of Rev. Nicholas MURPHEY (1785-1853) but the MURPHEYS of Augusta have said COLLINS's wife was a Mahala HOUSTON but I never could tie this HOUSTON connection into the overall family. I also knew that Rev. MURPHEY was a close personal friend of Rev. Lovic and Reddick PIERCE, both later bishops of the Methodist Church. I could not figure this connection out, either, because I knew where these PIERCE boys came from -- the same general place that John COLLINS and my DANIEL bunch were from -- eastern NC and before that, IOW County, VA. I also knew there was a MURPHEY family back in the same general area my DANIEL bunch migrated from (Johnston > Dobbs > Greene County, NC) to Burke County, GA and this MURPHEY family was close and seemed to be tied to same set of families that were either close or collateral with my DANIEL bunch. Now comes the critical piece of information from my friend, Lucy GRAY. John COLLINS was not married to a HOUSTON girl but a Martha BRENT and they were the parents of Nancy Ann COLLINS who married Rev. Nicholas MURPHEY. This is probably also why Rev. Nicholas MURPHEY and Nancy COLLINS named one of their daughters, Martha MURPHEY, after her mother, Martha BRENT This is the same Martha MURPHEY b. ABT 1815 who I think married my GGF, Robert w. DANIEL, as one of his earlier wives ABT 1836. What seems to be true is the MURPHEY family of Augusta, who reportedly came over with Oglethorpe in 1732, has been commingled with the MURPHEY family of Beaufort/Dobbs County, NC that migrated south with the DANIEL, WISE, ERWIN, BRENT, COLLINS, SMITH and other families, probably ABT 1810 but some of these may have been in GA earlier than that. That, I do not know. This whole bunch -- DANIEL, SMITH, COLLINS, BRENTS, WISE, TARVER, GAINER and a few more were all collateral. I know that some think their SMITHS of Jefferson and Washington County were not connected with this bunch, but they are wrong. Noah, Etheldred, Jordan SMITH and probably a few more SMITHS are all in this little group, too. In fact, Noah and Etheldred are living in Greene County, NC next to or close to Robert DANIEL (ABT 1785-AFT 1830) and his wife, Penelope LANE (1773-1846) in 1800. Rev. Jordan SMITH (1777-1835) married Mary GAINER and this all points back to the same bunch because the GAINERS and the BRENTS were all collateral. The name, Etheldred, is also a big time name in the TARVER family and the TARVERS were collateral with these DANIELS, so all of this matches. A Thomas TARVER was also sitting in Greene County, NC, adjacent to the Robert DANIEL, John WISE and Noah SMITH in 1800. I do not know how this MURPHEY family of Richmond County, GA is laid out, now, but I can tell you this -- they were not part of the Edmund MURPHEY family that supposedly came over with Oglethorpe, if even that story is true. I think this is just another example of how some folks will cobble up a family when they have no real idea how a family is actually laid out. The TARVERS of Burke and Jefferson are in a similar situation, too. The one bit of missing information I need is that for a Joseph MARSHALL, Sr. (ABT 1760-AFT 1820) family of Jefferson County, GA. In 1820 he was living right next to Rev. Jordan SMITH and his wife, Mary GAINER, in Jefferson County, GA and my GGU, James Lane DANIEL and his wife, Ann PERRY (1809-1861), probated the will of his wife, Ann MARSHALL (ABT 1765-1845), in 1845 in Jefferson County, GA. In my opinion, this MARSHALL family was also from NC but how they actually tie in may be determined by who this Ann MARSHALL was. I think she was a sister of Jordan SMITH but that is just my opinion. She could have been a BRENT, WATTS, DANIEL, COLLINS, GAINER or one of these other close families but she had to be part of the overall family of James L. DANIEL, since he and his second wife, Ann PERRY, probated her estate in 1845. I also think that my Robert C. DANIEL (wife, Penelope LANE) of Burke and the William DANIEL (wife, Betsy WATTS) of Emanuel County, GA were brothers and grandsons of John CASON, Sr. of Pitt County, NC who later migrated to Burke County, GA. The SWAINS and LANES of Emanuel County, GA are probably also in this same little group. Maybe someone else has some thoughts on this...... John R. Clarke Thomasville, GA