Bart, I should have told you what I have done so far. I am certain that the Durham bunch is related. In fact I think that area (town of Kearsley in Lancashire) )is their point of origin. Family lore hints that the Kearsleys in Philadelphia in the 1700s were related and they came from Durham. I think Jonathan's family probably migrated from there (Durham) to Scotland. I have begun a one-name study through the Guild in England and am now mapping all Kearsleys (and some variants) in Lancashire, Durham, Cheshire, Yorkshire, etc. I am connecting a Y-DNA study to this and so far have samples from Jonathan's family and the Durham bunch (& others)-hoping to have those results soon. As I map I try to get commitments to join the YDNA study. It's slow and quite honestly, optimistic to believe I'll find connections, but it is a last resort & I'm having fun with it. I'm putting out feelers everywhere I go (on the Internet) with the hope that something, somewhere will connect with someone. I don't take any records too seriously, but try to look at all possibilities. I haven't done too much in Scotland yet except get in touch with every Rootsweb list I can find. I'll probably begin with Edinburgh & Glasgow records, but I realize it's a shot in the dark. Also I've pretty much scoured Ancestry but.....there could well be something I've missed. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Alexandra