I recently purchased the book "Daniel Hale WILLIAMS:Negro Surgeon" by Helen Buckler that has raised my belief that Daniel Hale WILLIAMS' family and my Williams' family may be very closely connected. It started several years ago when I noticed a historical marker at 315 Blair Street indicating that it was the birthplace of the first doctor to successfully perform open-heart surgery. I almost did not make serious note of this information when I saw that it indicated that he was black. Just a few blocks away, at 213 Mulberry Street, my great-great grandmother, Annie Elizabeth (WILLIAMS) TAYLOR died many decades later. Thinking there might be more than just a remote chance of a connection, I copied down the information on the marker. I should point out that the book is a bit elusive about the WILLIAMS ancestors that were actually black. There is undeniably Black and Native American blood in Dr. WILLIAMS' mother's family. In the 1850 census, Dr. WILLIAMS' grandfather (also named Daniel) was living in Centre County and is listed as "M" (Mulatto), and his father is listed in Hollidaysburg as "M" (though he has become "B" by the 1860 census). However, his great-grandfather, Joseph WILLIAMS, spoke German fluently and apparently printed and sold Bibles for a living (Dr. WILLIAMS' father and grandfather were both barbers). The book goes further to state that many of Joseph's descendants married into white families and were able to "be white" because of their light skin. I would suspect that, if there is a connection, it would be through one of these descendents, as my ancestors were listed as white in all the censuses in which I found them. Unfortunately, my WILLIAMS and TAYLOR families from the Hollidaysburg area have been very hard to track down, so I still have not made a positive connection. However, the aforementioned book has a sentence in it that furthers my belief in this connection: "He [he here refers to Daniel Hale WILLIAMS' father, Daniel WILLIAMS] bought property in town and land rich in iron ore on Brush Mountain." That certainly caught my eye, as my great-great-great grandparents, Henry WILLIAMS and Margaret (NOEL) WILLIAMS show up living on the side of Brush Mountain in the 1860 census, having taken over the home of Lovecia (or Louisa) WILLIAMS, who I assume to have been a relative of Henry's. In fact, Henry and Margaret ended up raising Lovecia's youngest children, the twins Ann Eliza (WILLIAMS) Yingling (yes, there were TWO Anns living in the WILLIAMS' household) and Samuel WILLIAMS. I'm assuming that Lovecia died between 1859 and 1860, as an "L. WILLIAMS" is listed in the 1859 Catharine Township map on the Brush Mountain property. I know that Henry, at least, was living here until the mid-1870s and, we believe, he and Margaret were both buried in the WILLIAMS Cemetery during the 1870s, which used to be on the side of Brush Mountain but has since been replaced by an electrical tower (thanks to Pennelec, who seems to think they have no responsibility in the matter). Now, is the property where Lovecia lived the same as the property purchased by Daniel Williams? If so, why? What relationship was she to him? What relationship was she to Henry? I would appreciate any leads that someone might have to help us out. Thanks! Lee Taylor Towson, MD