From: Mary Knight Here's a wild guess for you BL. Harriett HARGIS SHRUM b. December 23, 1825 widow of Asa Joyner SHRUM. Daughter of Howell Henry Hargis & his first wife Lucy TUCK. She would have been a niece by marriage to John Richard Brooks. I don't know where she was in 1877. Thanks, Mur, That being the case, I have a stronger connection to Harriett HARGIS SHRUM through the HARGIS line than through the SHRUM line. Being a niece of John Richard BROOKS would probably explain why he sold her 50 acres of land on a verbal contract in 1872. Apparently she was in Macon Co. at that time, although she never appeared at any of the court sessions which ran quarterly from 11 Feb 1875 to 17 Feb 1881. She paid $100 of the $200 contract and the court foreclosed on her contract when she failed to appear and pay the balance plus interest during the distribution of John Richard BROOKS' estate. Bobby L.