Di, Thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate it. When I do a biography, I need to hire you to write it. As you found, these old biographies do have some errors or inconsistencies. Lewis' Civil War records is one. In the history it states that he enlisted in Sep. 1862 and died in Jan 1864. Per the WI Roster of Volunteers: http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/roster/search.asp#index/ it states that Lewis enlisted 11 Aug 1862 and died 5 Feb 1864 in Paris, Grant, WI of disease. This Dalgril thing is interesting. I checked all of the McPherson marriages in my "parents" books, but Jane was never listed with her maiden name. I would have guessed maybe Dahlgren or similar, but really don't know. I did see that Mary J. (McPherson) Shinoe's death certificate lists Balzell as Jane's maiden name. Okay, not real close. Yikes! That history has some other interesting clues. How much have you worked on the McPherson line? The history states that Alexander and Jane moved to Phillipsburg, Phillips Co., KS in 1881. Alexander was said to have died in 1898, Jane in 1882. Per the history, Alexander and Jane moved to Allegheny Co., PA. Per the 1840 census index, there is an Alexander Mc Pherson in Antis Twp, Huntingdon Co., PA, Pg. 404. Maybe them? No Dalgril or even similar in the Township, however. Back to Kansas. There are some interesting cemetery records on-line for Fairview Cemetery, Phillipsburg, KS http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Phillipsburg/city/fairview.html Included are: MCPHERSON, Alexander, died 1897/11/27, buried 1897/11/28 (Quick) That is really close. MCPHERSON, Jane, born 1818/10/05, died 1882/07/06, residence Phillipsburg, KS, buried 1893/05/09 (Something wrong here...buried 11 years after she died??) But, the death year is right. These look really good. Obituaries for Alexander or Jane could possibly clear up the maiden name thing and possibly more. If all else fails, I can refer you to a great Kansas newspaper researcher who only charges $3 per event plus a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE). She is thorough and quick. Before that, I would recommend trying the local Phillipsburg, KS library: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Phillipsburg/library/index.html Phillipsburg Public Library 888 Fourth Street Phillipsburg, KS 67661 (785) 543-5325 · (785) 543-5374 (FAX) pblib1@theclassic.net You might try e-mailing the library for assistance in locating obituaries for Alexander and Jane. Better yet, I would recommend sending them a nice request letter with their death dates. Always include an SASE (best chance for a response) and a small donation ($3-4) to cover copies. Over the years I have had great luck getting obituaries from local libraries. They are usually on a tight budget, so an SASE and a small donation generally takes care of everything and usually results in a quick response. Good luck and thank for the nice comments. Dave Taft