Hi, Listees, I'm new to this list and have been researching my Williams family in West Virginia (Mary Virginia Williams m. John Henry Leech/Edward Williams m. Elizabeth Neville/Vincent Williams m. Mary Harness?/Edward Williams m. Maryon Surname Unknown). Vincent Williams b. abt 1715 in Glamorgen, Wales, d. 16 Jul 1756 was my 5x greatgrandfather. In searching your mailing list archives, I see that there are sources listing him as moving to Hampshire County from Pennsylvania. Does anyone know when he emigrated from Wales with *his* father, yet another Edward Williams, and where they lived initially? Also, our written family tree (not totally persuasive evidence!) shows Vincent Williams' wife to be Mary Harness. Not having been able to locate her, I put that research aside some time ago, and have been intensely researching my 1709 Palatine ancestors who came to New York, later the Mohawk Valley. In the course of *that* research, I ran across a Hoerner/Kayser website regarding their ancestors also from the small village of Unteroewisheim, Baden, Germany. I scanned the page for some familiar names and saw to my surprise that "Hoerner" - in only a world where spelling is a slight suggestion - had become "Harness" in Virginia. A light went off, pulled out my "Williams" research. Yep, there she is, same place. Except that when I looked at all the Harness trees, there was no Mary of the right age to be married to a Vincent Williams. This is big to me, because if we *aren't* Harnesses, then I want to know. If we are, then I have a lovely tree already going back to the same village where my Lapps and Bertsch people came from. Searching last night in your mailing list archives, I read that a Peter Casey married Vincent Williams' widow after his awful death. Our family written tree actually had her die on the same day; we thought she had perhaps perished in the same attack. It is nice to know that - whatever her surname - my 5x greatgrandmother went on to have a new husband and children. Also seen in the archives was that a Mary M. Depuy (Dupuy?) is a contender for Vincent's wife and Edward's mother. Can anyone tell me the evidence for Mary Harness and the evidence for Mary Depuy? Or point me to the research sites? Thanks for your help. Xposted to WVHAMPSH-L, WVHARDY-L, and HARNESS-L lists, as well. Cheers, Allrelated -- "As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies." Iliad, VI.146-150, trans. Lattimore. So, tell me again, why the heck am I raking up all these leaves?