I found this information on Ancestry.com. Several researchers agree so it's most likely pretty accurate. I'm a researcher for Marion Co AR so I do know some about the creation of Missouri, but not a lot. More detail can be found, I'm sure. First. James Guinn Melson was b 1785 in what became Boone Co MO. He died 1839 in Little Missouri Township, Pike Co. AR. He married 31 May 1808 in Jefferson MO Rosanna b MO 1785 d Hempstead Co AR 1852. She was the daughter of William Belew b Bedford VA 1755 and Sarah Jones b 1767. At the time of his birth, the land belonged to either France or Spain (they sort of traded it back and forth). Since Boone Co MO encompassed at one time the area which includes Columbia and Jefferson City MO, it's quite close to St Louis MO. The Louisianna Purchase - when the US purchased the land from either Spain or France and added it to our territory - occurred in 1803. In 1813 Louisianna Territory was divided into smaller areas, creating Missouri Territory. That may be when Boone Co MO Terr was created. Or maybe it was 1815 when the area was again subdivided. Second. Solomon Melson was b Boone Co MO Terr 1815 d Clark Co. AR 15 April 1892 bu Ebenezer Cemetery, Blevins, Hempstead Co. AR. He married (some say Mississippi Territory) Hempstead Co AR 18 Oct 1842 Jane Elvira Ward b Ouachita Parish LA* 26 Jan 1821 d Hempstead Co. AR 11 March 1886. She was the daughter of IsaacWard b Clark Co. AR 1795 d Greenville Co AR1835 and Mary McMahon b Clark Co AR 1794 d 1834. Solomon & Jane can be found in Missouri Township, Hempstead Co. AR 1850 and 1860. It's my guess that Jane was born in AR Terr before AR became a state but after it was no longer part of LA- *not Louisianna Terr. Besides, the Ouachita Mountains are pretty much the western boundary of AR. Here's why I say that: "Hempstead County, Arkansas Territory was organized in 1819 under provisions of an act of the legislature of the Missouri Territory that had been approved on Dec. 15, 1818. The original county covered nearly all of the southwest corner of the state. It was named for Edward Hempstead, first delegate to congress from the Missouri Territory. Other counties formed from Hempstead were: Miller, 1820 and 1874; Lafayette, 1827, Sevier, 1828; Union, 1829; Pike, 1833; Ouachita, 1842; Polk, 1844; Columbia, 1852; Little River, 1867; Nevada, 1872; Howard, 1873." http://www.couchgenweb.com/arkansas/hempstead/ Hope this helps with your confusion and in your research. Mysty [email protected] ************************************* ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 3:29 PM Subject: [ARBOONE] Solomon Melson > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Author: rgmelson > Surnames: Melson, Ballew > Classification: queries > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.arkansas.counties.boone/2521/mb.ashx > > Message Board Post: > > I know Boone County was created in the late 1860s, and understand this > might very well be grasping at straws. But ... > > My paternal 2g grandfather, Solomon Melson, is shown in his obituary as > having been born in Boone County - maybe MO - on 15 Dec 1815, parents > James Guinn Melson and Rosanna Ballew Melson. His parents had previously > lived in the area around Natchez, Mississippi Territory, and left there > sometime around 1813 for Missouri, where Solomon _may_ have been born. > The family, with Solomon, moved to what was then Clark County, sometime in > 1816. > > Fine, so far. But, since Arkansas was then a part of the Missouri > Territory - it didn't become a self-governing territory until about > 1819-20 - any move to Missouri could as well have been to the area that > became Boone County, AR, as to Boone or Boone County, MO. Since Solomon > died in the late 1880s, well after Boone County, AR, was formed, it could > well be that the obituary writer took what few facts he had, added them > up, and came up with a wrong answer (remember, 2 2 = 5 for sufficiently > large values of 2!). > > With all that as background, my question is this - is there anybody > reading this board who might have any information regarding the family of > James Guinn Melson and Rosanna Ballew Melson, especially Solomon Melson, > residing in the Boone County or predecessor area? I'll add I've found no > clues anywhere I've looked in Missouri, although the Ballew/Ballou tribe > was fairly prominent there in the decades before the Louisiana Purchase. > > Many thanks in advance for any information anybody might be able to > provide/share. > > Bob Melson > > Important Note: > The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you > would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link > above and respond on the board. > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >