This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ed57176 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.gibson/5616.1.1.2.1.2.2.1.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Still trying to make progress on tracking Elisha's early life and the names of his parents. So far there is little progress to report. One of the problems I am trying to resolve are two items mentioned in Elisha's obituary (see the newspaper clipping attached to a previous message). First, the newspaper says Elisha was born in Indiana, when most census records say Ohio. I have yet to find a reasonable explanation for this difference. Still, since there are few birth records for either state during the early 1800's, that discrepancy may not matter all that much in the long run. The second item that seems a bit odd is that Elisha's family was reported to have moved to Washington County, IL when he was a small boy. The problem with this statement is that it does not fit well with the rest of Elisha's records, starting with his marriage record in Tazewell County. I did find an 1850 US census document placing Ann Maria Lewis and her parents in Tazewell County five years before her marriage to Elisha. Why is that important? This means at some point Elisha also had to be in Tazewell County to meet her, court her, and marry her. Since the map shows Washington County in southern IL and Tazewell County in central IL, the two are quite a distance apart. Elisha certainly could have traveled the distance, but the question remains, "Why would he choose to do so?" This brings me to a discovery and a theory. During this research I found there is a Washington Township within Tazewell County. If the Nuckolls County Nebraska newspaper obituary got that detail confused and switched "county" for "township," this would more reasonably explain how Elisha and Ann Maria met and married. Such events make much more sense if the two actually lived in the same county for a period of time. Since Elisha's obituary says nothing of a major move within Illinois between boyhood and his marriage, I think the Washington township theory has some merit. Here is a link to a township map of Tazewell County: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/irad/township_maps/tazewell_map.html In looking at the McLean County map one can note that the distance between Washington Township, Tazewell and Ailin Township (Mosquito Grove), McLean -- where Elisha and Ann started their family -- is not that much of a move. I contacted IRAD (the records depository) at ISU asking for any records they had of Elisha's early life in IL. They only sent back a copy of the marriage record. There is nothing helpful on that record to connect Elisha to his parents. I have also been trying to find land purchase records for Tazewell county which might have a Gibson name. So far there are too many to be helpful - (David, George, William are just a few of the given names of Gibson landowners in Tazewell County alone) one has to learn how to read legal descriptions of land locations to make any sense of it. If there was just a few Gibson properties in Washington Township, Tazewell, County at that time, it might help to narrow things down and give us other names to search. That's about it for now. I have a feeling the land ownership search may be the best way to find the next clue short of finding some sort of miracle record out there. 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.