This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Aills, Lewis, Clark, Strong Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/hV.2ADE/2288.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: If you read beyond this line you owe your local Historical or Genealogical society two days of volunteer work on something "not yours". Here goes - Mrs. Mickel's "History of Johnson County" Volume 1, page 87, lists William Aills as a property owner in T9 R24 as early as 1837, but the source of the data is not cited. Mrs. Mickel's "Probate Court Records" (Butler Center F417 .J6 M49) lists two deeds in a summary of early property owners: 1840 William Aills & Sarah, his wife (page 6) 1844 Lewis Allen & wife Sarah, former wife of William Aills, dec'd (page 9) Looking at D. W. Allen's "Arkansas Land Patents: Johnson County" (Butler Center F417 .J6 A45), there are eight Cash entry land patents under Aells or Aills, William. These would have been returned or refused by the original grantee, and put up for sale. They are in Sections 3, 9, 26, and 27 in T9N R24W; Section 35 T9N R25W, all dated 20 September 1839. You can find the images of the original docs on the Bureau of Land Management web site (free to download as jpeg or pdf images). They might be interesting, as the original page may have some extra bit of information not in the index. They are not homestead entries, so no family data should be expected. There is no Will or mention of "Aills" in the index of the Probate Books. The earliest existing Probate Book is "C", from 1844-1852 (see LDS Roll 1027113). However, assuming that indexes are always less than perfect, on page 7 of that book C there is an entry from the Court session of July 1844, from L. N. Clark, administrator of William Aills, deceased, against Jesse Lawther, which is dismissed. It does mention a record made "in this court" in the October term of 1840. That implies to me that William Aills died, and an estate was probated, no later than October of 1840. It looks like the estate by 1844 was a mess. There are multiple entries in Chancery Court Book A (LDS Roll 1027686). There are no loose papers for this period, so there is not much indication what the suit was about. But, the estate is often mentioned because the administrator Lorenzo N. Clark died (about 1843), and was replaced by John H. Strong, deceased about March 1849. He was followed by J. Cravens. But to be fortunate, you have to look at each entry. On page 63 (case file 448), where they notify the court that Clark is deceased, the heirs are listed as: Elizabeth (middle name may be Elenor, but it is most difficult to read) Mary Faire (possibly Claire, again difficult to read) George Whitfield (this is very clear) On page 352, the children are again named, with first names only. On page 330, 28 February 1858, James Logan asserts that George W. Aills is no longer a resident of Arkansas in an attempt to get clear title to land he purchased at a tax auction (NE 1/4 Section 35 T9N R24W, 160 acres) Back to Deed Books - Book C & D are the earliest existing as far as anyone knows. They are on LDS roll 1027675. On October 7, 1839 (page D-49), Lewis Allen has a transaction which does not mention a wife, indicating that he was not married at that time. Page D-51 - October 4, 1839. William Aills sells E 1/2 SW Section 26 T9N R23W, 80 a., to Moreau Rose, who was a businessman in Clarksville. Page D-61 - January 13, 1840. William Aills issues a power of attorney to access an account at "Branch Bank at Van Buren of the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas". Up to you to figure that one out. I have never researched it. Page D-81 & 82 - April 30, 1840, filed May 18, 1840. William Aills and Sarah Aills his wife appear personally before the Clerk, selling land (NW 1/4 Section 35 T9N R24W and SW 1/4 Section 26 T9N R24W, totalling 92 a. ) to Lorenzo N. Clark. Page D-359 - October 29, 1844. Lewis Allen sells land (NE SW Section 3 T9N R24W, 40 a.) to Moses Hamm that includes land of Sarah Allen from the estate of her deceased husband William Aills. (There is no known marriage book from this period). Page D-364 - October 29, 1844, Lewis Allen and wife sell land (E SE Section 9 T9N R24W, 26.6 a.) to David C. Ward, "vested in us by virtue of Dower of the said Sarah Allen formerly the widow of the late William Aills Deceased". After I got into the court books, it appears that there may have been other sales in the deed book that would have been indexed under the county, rather than the estate, for tax auctions, but it was too late to revisit that.