Dear Harkey cousins, Flicka asked for more information on the family of Bascom Somerfield HARKEY. Flicka, if you mean his ancestors rather than his descendants, I have some information. Most of it repeats my earlier messages (most recently, one posted 14 Dec, in regard to Donna Clark's questions about Samuel Jones HARKEY). It looks as if your information on Wilburn D. HARKEY and wife Margaret Tabitha McEACHERN came from Lora Harkey Scott's history. Lora did a tremendous service for the Dunklin Co. HARKEYs by writing that article, but I have found a few conflicting data from other sources. 1. About Wilburn D. HARKEY Although it is an appealing story, I haven't seen any proof that Wilburn D. was the seventh son (of Daniel D. HARKEY); he is listed as the fifth son of eight. My 2gr-grandfather, Francis Marion HARKEY, is the seventh--that lived, anyway. I'm not claiming seventh-son status for him, though. There may have been sons who didn't live past infancy. 2. The McEACHERNs I haven't found any evidence to support Lora's statement that Margaret McEACHERN's father was a Lewis who was born in Scotland, and I wonder if the Scotland part might be one of those family stories that get a little further from fact as time goes by (perhaps HIS father was from Scotland). His name in the 1850 census is John, but I can easily believe that his name was, say, John Lewis McEACHERN and that he was known in the community and in the family by his middle name. That, unfortunately for genealogists, seems to be a very common practice in Southern families. Margaret Tabitha McEACHERN is listed in the 1850 Pontotoc MS census as the youngest child (b GA 1838) in the household of John and Margaret McEACHERN. That 1850 census shows that both John and Margaret were born in South Carolina, and so were all their children until about 1835-36, at which time the family evidently removed to Georgia, where their last two children were born. In the same 1850 MS census, living nearby are Samuel Jones HARKEY and his wife Sarah E. (McEACHERN), as well as Daniel D. HARKEY with young Wilburn in his household. There were other McEACHERNs in Mississippi in 1850, in a different county, one born in Scotland, one in NC, one in SC. I don't know their relationship to the John McEACHERN family. Here's a summary of Wilburn HARKEY's family: 1-5 WILBURN DAVID HARKEY (son of Daniel David HARKEY, b abt 1797 NC and Mary E. BANKSTON, b abt 1802 GA), b 20 Mar 1837 Pike Co GA, d 1919 Dunklin Co., bur Cude Cem; m (1858 MS?) MARGARET Tabitha McEACHERN (dau of JOHN McEACHERN, b abt 1792 SC, and Margaret, b abt 1800 SC), b Sep 1838 GA, d 1915 Dunklin Co. MO, bur Cude Cem. The 1880 federal census Dunklin Co. MO names all their living children (10 were born, 6 were still alive) except for Bascom, who was born shortly after the census was taken: HARKEY, W.D., 44, Ga-NC-SC [Wilburn David Harkey] MARGARET T. (w), 41, Ga-SC--SC (Margaret Tabitha McEachern) WILBURN (s), 18, Mo-Ga-Ga [Wilburn Owen Harkey, b Oct 1862] JASPER (s), 11, Mo-Ga-Ga (Andrew Jasper Harkey, b Jul 1868) WM L. (s), 10, Mo-Ga-Ga [William Lewis Harkey, b Apr 1871] EDWIN L. (s), 6, Mo-Ga-Ga [Edwin Lee Harkey, Nov 1876] THOMAS F. (s), 2, Mo-Ga-Ga [Thomas Fletcher Harkey, b Mar 1878] and (from 1900 census) BASCOM S[omerfield], b 19 Sep 1880 If you need anything else, let me know. I'll help if I can. By the way, did you ever follow up on my suggestion to check the Mississippi censuses? I don't know whether the suggestion had merit or not, but I thought it would be worth a try. Alma Roark Johnson [email protected]