This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: PERRY HARPER MYERS Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/UkB.2ACI/4835.2.1.2.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I have been the lucky recipient of your help before, Aurora, when I was stationed in Germany and Russia. I am very grateful for the work you and the Collin County Genealogical Society have done to preserve and promote the history of Collin County and the families who have thrived there. Now that I am back on U.S. soil, I am anxious to actually set foot in a real library, archive, or court house. I hope once I'm settled that I can devote some time to genealogical pursuits in earnest, perhaps solving some of these mysteries. Unfortunately, I'm not any where near Texas, so I'm still having to rely on the kindness and expertise of others. Because our surname is PERRY, I suppose we really want to research that line's heritage most. (Funny how we tend to marginalize the female lines simply because they adopted their spouses' surnames.) I did have a chance to look for a Richard and Harriet HARPER who appeared in Dallas Co., TX in 1880 [Image Source: Year: 1880; Census Place: , Dallas, Texas; Roll: T9_1299; Family History Film: 1255299; Page: 207.1000; Enumeration District: 62] and they appear to have a six-year-old daughter in the household, whose first name could be read as "Ida." Since Richard is listed as only 22 years old, while Harriet is listed as 28, then I would hazard a guess that even though the daughter isn't given a different last name, she isn't likely to be the natural child of Richard's, since he would have only been about 15 when Harriet would have gotten pregnant at about age 21. Besides that, you mentioned in your previous posting that Richard and Harriet married in 1877. This six-year-old would have been born about 1874. So, it is conceivable that Harriet was married to a KINSON before, and that Ida is actually her real daughter by that man. In 1880, Ida is said to be born in IL wit! h a MO -born father and IL -born mother. In the 1900 census, Ida's father's birthplace is changed to IL. I think the census taker in 1880 just inserted Richard's MO birthplace as Ida's father's. Thank you, too, for pointing out the number of children Harriet claims to have had versus how many are living and, further, how many are in the household. That would indeed point to either a step-child or an in-law in the house. Of course, one of the big questions from that 1900 household of Harriet's is, if both Ida and Mary are listing themselves as married and both as having had two children that are still supposedly living, then where the heck are the kids? Maybe Ida and Mary were simply visiting when the census-taker arrived. What's really peculiar is that there is a Mary MYERS living next door to Harriet with the same info on age, birth, marital status, children, etc. Probably a duplication? Very interesting. One last little peculiarity is that Harriet, now listed as a "LAKEY" or "LOKEY" is said to be widowed and the census taker put 21 years in the length of marriage column, but crossed it out. If she had been married to Richard HARPER for 21 years, then he would have passed away around 1898. Yet, the LAKEY / LOKEY kids in the household have birth years of 1892 and 1893. Could it be that these are two step-kids and that the sixth of Harriet's seven kids just simply isn't in this household? Maybe the LAKEY / LOKEY husband passed away just before the 1900 census, and maybe that's why Ida and Mary are there to lend a hand? Hmmm. Family research can be such fun! Again, Aurora, thank you for all the help you lend to researchers. It is a tremendous gift you give of your time and expertise. I, for one, genuinely appreciate it!! Best wishes, Laura