Barbara informs me that while unsuccessfully looking for her source for her art lesson query, she found in a Jan. 30, 1850 letter from Jane to Orion, "Pamela . . . is in the dining room giving Margaret Blesser a lesson on the Guitar" (_M.T. Business Man_,15-16). So we do have a guitar and guitar player in young Sam's family. Now if we can only get the guitar in his hands . . . larry marshburne larrym@unity,ncsu.edu