Tracy, Hiram Harmon was a native of Berkshire County, MA and came to Portland, Whiteside County, IL with Guy Ray in 1835. Guy Ray was also from Berkshire, MA and was married to three times: 1) Elizabeth Harmon, 2) Samantha Harmon, 3) Louisa Pomeroy. At the death of his first wife, he wrote to Samantha and asked her to come here, marry him and be a mother to his children. Family tradition says - Samantha was willing to do this but did not want to travel this far west alone. Supposedly, she was working in a tailor shop ran by Daniel Porter Brewer [either in Tyringham or Monterey, Berkshire County, MA]. Daniel Porter with his wife, Emeline Hollister Brewer, and son, Nathaniel Brewer, made the journey from Berkshire over the Erie Canal to the headwaters of the Ohio, down the river to the Mississippi, up the Mississippi to Rock Island, Illinois bringing Samantha to the area. Daniel Porter Brewer walked from Rock Island to Guy Ray's house and borrowed a team and wagon and went back after the rest of them. I am wondering if Elizabeth and Samantha were from that same family. Could Hiram have been, too? Hiram was a wagon maker by trade and may have been the first in the county. He lived in various parts of the county, was involved in various ventures, was struck by lightening in 1858 from which he did not recover for several years. He is now living in Colorado [1877] . Part of this is from my family's history and some from History of Whiteside County, Illinois by Charles Bent published in 1877. If you ordered the marriage license for Porter Harmon and Margaret Houston, did the application for the marriage license come with it. Who were the witnesses? Thanks Arlene Onken