This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Slifer Classification: biography Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.illinois.counties.ogle/84.101.249.1.1.2.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: You asked for both descendents and ancestors. 1) I have no knowledge of descendents beyond the chidren which you have listed. I got that list from the 1880 census. Roger may have more than I do. 2) Martin appears in the 1850 census in a household headed by a brother-in-law, William Smith, husband of Susan Slifer, married 5th August 1847. Another sister, Margaret [Slifer] Gantz, is listed in the same household, but her husband, Emanuel Gantz, is missing. I assume that he was in Illinois prospecting for new homes. All three moved to Ogle County soon after. 3) There is a bit of a mystery about Martin's ancestors. I have tentavely assigned him to Daniel Slifer, bn ca 1800 in Frederick County, MD, who has left very little in the way of personal records. This is based primarily on a coincedence of dates. Daniel married Ann Gantz on 10th November 1824 and Ann died 18th April 1840. In the course of 15 years they should have had a family, and this history brackets the known birth dates of Margaret, Susan & Martin quite nicely. There is no other pair of Slifer parents not accounted for in this era and area. There is, however, no solid evidence for this assignment. 4) Daniel was the son of Samuel Slifer (1770-1849) and Peggy Ferguson (1775-1830). Samuel was the son of John Slifer (1743-1822). John was probably the son of another John Slifer (1719-1767) who was born in Switzerland and lived at Coopersburg, PA.