My most elusive surname to search is GILCOAT. The excellent tax book of Wilkes County done by Frank Parker Hudson shows that John GILCOAT paid taxes several of the years between 1785 and 1805. My knowledge of the geography is sketchy; so I do not know if was in what is now Wilkes County. It was indicated that one of his neighbors was William FEW. The name appeared as GILCOAT, GILLCOAT and JILCOAT. The latter spelling indicates the way the name sounds when pronounced. I would very much appreciate learning of anything that might turn up on this name. [email protected] ______________________________ --------------------<<<<X-Message: #3 <Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 21:29:36 -0800 From: "Kris S." <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Message-Id: <[email protected]> Subject: research ------------------------- I live in Wilkes Co. and go to the library about once a month for my own research. If you let me now what names and time period you are looking for, I will keep my eye out for any information that I come across. Kris>>>>>>>>

I had my copies of the Hudson books out working on something else and checked out your Gilcoat (etc) listings out of curiosity. In trying to quickly chart the information and properties of John Gilcoat we have to examine county boundaries at the time of each taxation period. 1787 John's land is in Franklin County. Franklin was created from Indian land ceded in 1783, so this is the original county. 1791 He has land in Wilkes and Franklin Counties, both original counties, original north border of Wilkes meeting original south border of Franklin. 1797 Now Jackson County appears. Jackson was created from part of Franklin in 1796. Logic would tell us that Jackson must have been created from the southern part of Franklin, and his land still bordered Wilkes, but this doesn't work. In 1793 Wilkes gave up over half of its northern portion to Oglethorpe and Elbert Counties, with Oglethorpe now falling between Franklin (later Jackson in 1796) and Wilkes. In most of the entries there is a Robert Jackson shown as owning bordering land to Mr. Gilcoat. Also, in one entry, according to a footnote in Hudson's book, Mr. Jackson appears to be coming in to pay Mr. Gilcoat's taxes, if I read it right. Do you have the full data from Hudson's book on Mr. Gilcoat's entries? An analysis of the categories of land quality (1st, 2nd 3rd), neighbors' names, waterways, etc., could really help locate Mr. Gilcoat and his land. Most entries show bordering landowners and "waters" in the area. If I recall correctly from past lectures I've heard, it doesn't ALWAYS mean that the property adjoined the named creek, river, etc. It just meant that water from the person's land flowed into that waterway. I see that described in this book, as well. This really doesn't help a lot, I know. Sorry. Delores ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 7:32 PM Subject: Gilcoat, Gillcoat Family in Wilkes County > My most elusive surname to search is GILCOAT. The excellent tax book of > Wilkes County done by Frank Parker Hudson shows that John GILCOAT paid taxes > several of the years between 1785 and 1805. > My knowledge of the geography is sketchy; so I do not know if was in what > is now Wilkes County. It was indicated that one of his neighbors was William > FEW. > The name appeared as GILCOAT, GILLCOAT and JILCOAT. The latter spelling > indicates the way the name sounds when pronounced. > I would very much appreciate learning of anything that might turn up on > this name. > [email protected] > > ______________________________ > --------------------<<<<X-Message: #3 > <Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 21:29:36 -0800 > From: "Kris S." <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Message-Id: <[email protected]> > Subject: research > > ------------------------- > > I live in Wilkes Co. and go to the library about once a month for my own > research. If you let me now what names and time period you are looking > for, I will keep my eye out for any information that I come across. > Kris>>>>>>>> >