.....doesn't *anybody* here have any ancestors? <giggle> Maybe it's time for folks to dig out their toughest Missouri brick wall and tell us about it. Here's a question I'll throw out for anyone who might have a clue.... There are families named BUTCHER in Polk County, Hickory County and Dallas County that I know of (and probably others I don't). The Polk County bunch is for sure mine; they come originally from Surry County, North Carolina. Anybody have any indicators, pro or con, whether any other group of BUTCHERs in the state are kin to my bunch? I can find them on the 1850 Surry County census, and there are a passel of them, but I don't even know how they relate to each other. <sigh> Megan "Piglet" Zurawicz, ListPig [email protected] [email protected]