Liz wrote: Does anyone connect with Henry B. Harris, who was in Red River Co., TX by 1846 and died there March 23, 1886? According to census records, Henry was born in VA.  His date of birth in the Bluff Cemetery record or tombstone shows as August 3, 1813. Henry's wife is Margaret, possibly Margaret West.  She was born in TN c. 1820-1822 and died Nov. 6, 1876 in Red River Co. Their children listed in several census records were Alexander, Virginia, Margaret, Nancy, Henry, John, George, Rodoff???, and William. My interest is a possible connection to my Virginia born great grandmother Hypagia/Hypatia and her sister Angelina Harris, who was born in Pittsylvania Co., VA in 1819. Angelina and her family moved from MS in the 1840's to Shreveport.  Hypagia married Daniel Whelpley in 1846 and went on to CA by 1850. A family album has a photo of "Mrs. Martha Harris" taken or copied in Shreveport in the 1860's. Also have a photo, from Shreveport, of a Miss Minnie Harris. Both are a mystery. Unfortunately, I have no male names to trace. Liz Dear Liz, I think you are asking too many questions at once. You have to break down the problem into little bits, and ask yourself, what one problem do I want to solve today? If you are searching for an answer in Texas, then search the locality where your ancestor lived. Do not try to jump state lines just yet. Do a time line and figure out where the person was for each event in his life. If you don't know the events, then get cracking!!! Where did he vote? Was he in the Civil War? Which side? When was each kid born? Did he pay taxes? Did he own land? And so on. You have some children's names. Note where they were born, according to the census. I note that the father has one birthplace, and the mother has another birthplace. Were they married in the birthplace of the mother? Or did they get married in Texas? Or do you know? Censuses can tell us a whole lot, but sometimes they are wrong. I was studying a census the other day, and noted that the kids, who were not widely spaced, were each born in a different state!!! That provides me with some clues--I have to search several localities, but only a river divided the localities--but records are different!!! Break your problem into little parts. Do not try to connect folks unless you have done a thorough job on each family. Otherwise, you are spinning your wheels. You may be learning a lot--but maybe not what you set out to learn. There are some good guides for research in each state in the Union, plus for many foreign, especially European, countries on this website: <A HREF="www.familysearch.org"> www.familysearch.org</A> There are also some census forms on that website which you can download. Also check the 1880 census which is also on that website. It's somewhat tricky to use--don't give it too much information. The computer gets confused, and the misspellings are great and many! Please study the Fam Hist Library Catalog--the link is on the lower right side--for each locality and determine what may be available on film (books you cannot borrow unless they have been filmed) for each locality. Then find an LDS center near your home, call to find out when they are open, and get acquainted with that haven for genealogists. Oh, and check out ALL the guides on that website, but do not DEPEND on the vast databases on that website. There is so much conflicting information for each person that it makes your head swim. Occasionally, there is some GOOD information, but do not rely on it!!! I hope you find your Harrises!!! Some of us are still looking after many decades!! E.W.Wallace