I apologize for the length of the following message... Dave, I so appreciate your help on this! You're a veritable one-man genealogy resource/library! <G> I'm grateful for our other list member's (Mari & Jeff) ideas on the delayed burial of Jane McPherson, too! It helps so very much to have collective intelligence on these issues, and several perspectives to keep open minds and fresh insight when dealing with the yet unproved. I'm sorry for the delay in reply, as my elderly father was struck from behind in his car on the highway, with my son in the car, but they are both fine. Dad just needed me for transportation while insurance decided whether to total or repair his car. He's so stubborn, that he didn't want to rent a vehicle in the mean. He finally broke down and did, after I chauffeured him around for a few days. It's been rare to even make it to my desk and turn the computer on, these last few days. Jane McPherson and her husband's burial plots are immediately adjacent, and not far from their son, Robert's plots. I surmised that she may have been buried in a family (farm) site until a cemetery plot was later purchased. Perhaps in the rush of emotions, when Jane died, the family didn't put rational thought into a permanent resting place, and as they saw more and more farmers retire, sell out, or otherwise leave farms or homesteads, they decided a public/church cemetery made more long term sense. Knowing what happened to some Grant County burials on farms (desecrated, plowed over), I only wish more ancestors had chosen the same route. Any of the mentioned scenarios are possible, and I'll let you know, if I can dig out the facts, down the road. I've written below, in the quoted text from Dave's insightful post, some replies in respect to each issue. Gosh, I feel as though a whole new path has opened up for researching a very large branch of my ancestry which was hidden in the overgrowth of time. I hope to be able to hand over some findings to other McPherson folk, who are currently in the dark, and busy researching their other lines. ----- In a message dated 02/4/9 7:23:13 PM, dtaft@cowtown.net writes: << ..<snip>.. 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! __After looking in the only home source I have for surnames, a Scots name book, I looked into some online sources for those names which are found mainly in the UK (all the most common ethnicity's) and the online IGI, coming up with nothing (sans the Yukon Trail character) other than the same idea you have of a possible DAHLGREN, or similar. That sounds very Scandinavian, but not out of the question, knowing how many Norse, Danes and Swedes were and are in the UK as permanent citizens. Honestly, I had put off getting Mary Shinoe's death cert. I got side tracked onto another surname quest. A third cousin popped out of nowhere to send me on a hunt with hot new leads in hand. I'm sure you know how that goes. I don't put much faith in death records, though if consistent with other records, they do help confirm some theories. Not so in this case? <sigh> That Balzell name struck me as recognizable, but turns out to be a related family's husband's first name: Bazel, or Berzzele, McDaniels married Mary Rister, 1862. I guess I could let my imagination get away with me to think this is a connection because up until seeing DALGRIL, the most suspected surname of Mrs. Jane McPHERSON, *was "McDANIELs." <shrug> The McDaniel(s) name comes up on Mary Jane SHINOE's pension increase record as a witness (in my cousin's possession). The name is found often in Grant records, so it may just be a neighbor. This could get very messy, and I cautiously reserve judgment. The other question surrounding Jane (?) McPherson was the location of her birth. There are several contradicting sources now which all say either Ireland or Scotland. The earlier census returns seem to indicate Ireland, and I may lean more to that, since she was alive, and being the lady of the house, possibly the person who answered many census questions? __ ..<snip>.. 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 a few years, when I guessed that Alexander & Jane McPherson were Mary Jane Shinoe's parents, I quickly rushed to the FHL and viewed the Allegheny pages of the 1840 census. I jotted down the townships in which I found any McPherson men. Difficult, to say the least, to mull through the Pittsburgh and surrounds, to find such a common name, and hope to find an Alex. I don't think I was savvy or experienced enough at the time to take more specific notes, but believe I recall seeing a Dwight and an Alasdair who looked promising, in nearby Pitt area townships (found McP's in East Ward, Indiana, Mifflin & a handful in Ohio Twp). Looking at your notes above, I'm sure I'll be revisiting those films, to check in a larger area. I didn't put much thought into the idea that perhaps Mary was born at a different location from her next siblings in PA, but that may just be a fact of her infancy and earliest childhood, that even she didn't know. There's a Donald McPherson who buys land in the early 1850s in Grant County, WI. I'll be snooping around his paper trails, to see if he's related and can help lead me back to PA and Scotland. __ ..<snip>.. MCPHERSON, Alexander, died 1897/11/27, buried 1897/11/28 (Quick) That is really close. ..<snip>.. These look really good. Obituaries for Alexander or Jane could possibly clear up the maiden name thing and possibly more. ..<snip>.. >> __The quick burial is a mystery. I've heard of some religions which practice a rapid burial (before sundown the following day?) but doubt he fell into that category. Wonder if it was a public health issue? He was about 82, so I would think it would have been a common death, as opposed to contraction of a dangerous contagion. You know, when I was able to get a viewable version of the very biography of which you so kindly have me a much clearer transcription, and saw the Kansas location, being a devoted RootsWeber (RootsWebian, RootsWebite?), I went straight to that Phillips County site, and began to check all their resources. I have not been lucky with online records or transcriptions, and I guess my time had come, because of all those listed cemeteries, the only one completed and online was that which held the resting remains of my related McPherson folk! I literally teared up, finding it. <-insert Wizard of Oz humor here-> The only let down of the experience was reading the specifics of attaining death records from the county. Knowing that not many "official" records are available before 1906, I am always just hoping, but in this case, they don't seem to want any requests for anything prior to 1911. Perhaps the county, town or parish level will still have something that the state doesn't. I'll snoop around the KSPHILLI-L list and see if anyone can tip me off to a better route, and most certainly will keep your tips in mind. The library or your mentioned researcher may be the resources that come through for me. Sometimes obits are better than official bureaucratic paper, which is often filled out in haste to expedite the process. Obits or death notices sometimes are afforded better thought into content. I will definitely pursue that. __ Well, no other lists that I know of can boast such a helpful intelligent group of genies, all studying a very tiny population portion of a large country with such vast, complex history. I'm glad you're all here, thank you, and only have the best of wishes for all your research! One more thing, Dave, I hope you have your library and research carefully mentioned as an important element of your estate in your will! <WG> I'd hate to think that all that work, and all those resources would not end up in the best place for posterity. Bless ya! Diane