Sid, I may be wrong, but I think it has been pretty well established that the John HARKEY (b 4 Apr 1789) who married Sarah WALCHER is *not* the son of Jacob HARKEY and Catherine TETER. The evidence I have seen that John HARKEY had other parents is twofold. 1. The first evidence consists of two documents written by John and Sarah (Walcher) HARKEY's son, Sidney Levi HARKEY, in the possession of and shared by his descendant, Nancy Broersma. Here is an excerpt from one of the documents, the "Private Journal of Sidney Levi HARKEY," written abt 1883-1888: "I was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, April 3d 1827. My father's name was John HARKEY, my mother's maiden name was Sarah WALCHER. Father's father died when he was 7 years old, and his mother married the 2d time a man by the name of EFIRD. Father was the only child of his father, and his father's name was also John. . . My father was bound out to a cruel Uncle by the name of Jonas LIPE, when 7 years of age, from whom he ran away when 19 years old." The second document by Sidney Levi HARKEY, a letter written to his daughters, repeats basically the same information, except that (if I am reading it correctly) it says that John HARKEY's father was named Martin. There may be some other document, one I don't have, that settles the issue of the name of John HARKEY's father, whether it is John or Martin--or both. 2. The second piece of evidence supports Sidney Levi's account. It is an excerpt or abstract from the "Minutes of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Cabarrus County," and was posted by Mary Russell a few years ago: "Tuesday, April 22, 1794 --- John HARGE, an orphan aged 5 years be bound as apprentice of Jonas LIPE as a shoemaker for the term of 16 years, the said Master to pay the sum of 4 pounds and a set of shoemaker tools exclusive of what the Law directs." I am persuaded that the orphan John HARGE and the John HARKEY who married Sarah WALCHER are the same person. Jacob HARKEY died about 1847 and so would not have left an orphaned son in 1794. Alma