Hi again,   Another FYI.     I just did a Google search for my ancestor,  (Capt.) Jacob HOMER,  and found this article which seems to be about a different Jacob HOMER:   —"Townshend Harris, First American Envoy in Japan," has entered upon a second edition, and has been issued in England. An interesting incident connected with the publication of Mr. Harris's journal is that (or the first time, since 1856, when Capt. Jacob Homer sailed from Boston in the bark Messenger Bird, with his wife and three children, the surviving relatives of this American navigator have learned, from this book, his experiences between South America and his sailing from Japan for the Amoor River. He was never heard of after leaving Mr. Harris at Shimoda.     http://books.google.com/books?id=5iM_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=%22Capt.+Jacob+Homer%22&source=bl&ots=OTe5Fg4gXP&sig=Up57oX7IBgy1UeaHs2FBed2OmZc&hl=en&ei=ktarTtuTLuPb0QHyxqHJDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Capt.%20Jacob%20Homer%22&f=false       Betty               (near Lowell, MA, USA)