Actually, my grandfather was born in Vandalia, ILL. Is that anywhere near Sangmon County? His father packed up their family in a covered wagon and moved them to MO. Here's a brief write up about Edward Grant Alsop, my great-grandfather. The named changed with one of the family, something about a feud over religion, I think...can't recall the details. He was the 8th child of David O. Alsop. He and his wife, Armina, farmed a small plot of land around Vandalia, Illinois in 1905. His wife, "Mina",had brothers in Southwest Missouri. the brothers wrote her letters about the Oklahoma land rush. Ed decided to load a covered wagon with all their worldly possessions. And, sending his wife with the five younger children on a train to MO to stay with her brothers, he took his younger brother, Thomas Frank (Frank) and William David, who was 12 at the time with him on the wagon trek across the country during the dead of winter, so that the ground would be frozen hard and there wouldn't be a problem with getting the wheels stuck in the mud. Frank in his excitement, painted on the side of the wagon, "Oklahoma or Bust" They picked up Mina and the other children in Crane, MO. and continued west. At the Mo-Ok border in a town called Seneca, they stopped at a livery stable. They had to freshen the horses and get everything set for the final phase of the trip. While they were there, the owner told them that if they didn't have a gun, they wouldn't have a chance, since Ok was filled with "marauding Indians and Highwaymen everywhere. So, after Mina cried all night over the issue (since they didn't own a gun and she feared they would all be killed), Ed decided to turn their family back to Southwest, Mo. When law and order were established in Oklahoma, Ed Alsup realized part of his dream and moved there around 1920. This information taken from an article written by my cousin, David Alsup in the Alsup Update. A newsletter written for Alsups by Henry Conor of Mn. My grandfather (William David Alsup) settled in Lawrence County, MO. At 10:57 AM 1/23/2014, you wrote: >Jean, > >A question, >Did your Alsup come from Sangmon County, IL? >And what county in MO did they arrive in to start homesteading? >Beth