Darlene, The information about the McQUARY bunch is great! I will have to look into it more. And you may have just solved the million dollar question that our family has had for decades !!!...who the third wife of James W. GIBSON was. Actually it turns out she was his first wife, if the info about Martha JOHNSON and James W. GIBSON marrying in White Co. in 1848 is correct and this is my James W. Gibson. For years the family story has been that John Logan Gibson, my g grandfather b. 1862, had two step mothers after his mother Irena (McGINNIS) died. I found the marriage for Prudence Irena McGINNIS and James W. GIBSON in Union Co. in 1850. And James W. GIBSON did remarry following the death of Prudence in 1864 , to Mrs. Nancy A.HAMILTON HAMPTON (d/o Edward HAMILTON) the widow of neighbor and war buddy William B. Hampton. James W. GIBSON and Nancy HAMILTON HAMPTON were married in 1864 shortly after the death of her husband...apparently a causality of the war...the record on this is unclear. I have copies of some of the probate record for William B. HAMPTON's Estate. The strange thing is the family story was rooted in the belief that John Logan GIBSON had two step mothers. But, I figured this part was not true after tracking him from the home of his father and step-mother, Nancy, to Henderson Co, KY, where he married. He eventually migrated from their with a large family to CA. My dad was born in CA. But the fact that John Logan GIBSON's father was married three times appears to be correct even if the number of step mothers is off. I have found no additional evidence that would support another wife after Nancy. But, then again you never know. James W. GIBSON died 24 Feb 1907 and was buried at Big Hill Cemetery. So far there has been no record of Nancy A. GIBSON's death or her grave found. James W. Gibson and Prudence Irena McGinnis had at least four sons, William Fineous GIBSON who married Katie PORTER;James Henry GIBSON who married Ora Belle DRISKALL; David J. GIBSON who I have not found a spouse for yet and John Logan GIBSON who as we see apparently had three wives. I have yet to figure out who the parents of Ora Belle DRISKALL and Katie PORTER are. David J. GIBSON was the last son of Prudence Irena McGINNIS to be born in abt. 1864; I assume Prudence Irena may have died in childbirth. My guess is that James W. needed a mother for his new son and with the death of William HAMPTON in the same time frame and Nancy Hamilton-Hampton being a neighbor things just fell into place .Eventually they had a daughter together, Lurella "Lillie" T. GIBSON who married James Zachariah BARNETT {son of William BARNETT and Elizabeth Catherine ALLEN}. Thanks for all your help, I have the probate records that you mentioned. The Daniel GIBSON you referred to was the son of Robert and Sarah GIBSON. The children of Robert and Sarah that I know definitely about are: Martha Gibson BECK b.1813[spouse William Beck] Amos GIBSON 1815-1880 [spouse: Sarah Lillian REED] Fanny Gibson FITZGERALD b.abt.1824 [spouse William FITZGERALD] Sarah "Sally" GIBSON James W. GIBSON 1826-1907[Martha JOHNSON (new info..thanks..will check out);Prudence Irena McGINNIS;Nancy A. HAMILTON-HAMPTON Benjamin M GIBSON 1827-1873[spouse: Margaret J. PORTER] John GIBSON d.1872 [spouse: Elizabeth ?] William GIBSON[spouse:Nancy ?] Daniel GIBSON 1820-1886 [spouse: Malinda TROUT 1828-1872 d/o of Jacob TROUT,Jr.] Before I forget, William R.GIBSON would be the son of Daniel Gibson and Malinda TROUT. He was born in 1852 and died in 1888. I need to look into getting the probate records for William R. GIBSON..thanks for the info about which box # and and date. And you are correct about questioning the transcription of the 1860 Census. After checking out the other census records and a couple of other errors that I know are on that particualar 1860 transcriptions, I figure that the individual was having trouble reading the old script handwriting of the census taker. You will also notice that the Gipson switches over to Gibson in later census records for the same individuals. Also, you will find a Benjamin Mc GIPSON/GIBSON on the 1860... this is actually Benjamin M GIBSON. The "Mc" is the result of old script M which looks for all the world like an M with a little tail that makes a c if you read it wrong. Also, the old script I and T are hard to tell apart at times...so all those IN for GIBSONs should be TN. Either that or all those TN in later census records are all incorrect and given the number of GIBSON siblings running around Hamilton in the 1800s I figure the odds are in favor of TN being the correct reading. As for the Robert and Sarah GIBSON, the procreators of this bunch, they appear to have been originally from NC and SC respectively. They migrated into TN and then IL. The big mystery is who is the _ _ _bert Gibson and family on pg.154c of the 1840 Census for Hamilton Co,IL. In this household are a male and female adult both age 50-60 and two males age 10-15;a male age 20-30;a female age 5-10;a female age 15-20;a female age 20-30. This is not Robert and Sarah GIBSON and family, they are on pg. 135c. Even more mysterious, who are Benjamin GUILLAM m. Patsey GIBSON, Dau. of Robert and Polly Gibson ... Hiram Greathouse attested their signatures on consent... James P. Crawford, J.P... 24 May 1835. This cannot be Robert and Sarah Gibson..Polly is a nickname for Mary..unless of course she had an additional name of Mary. There is no reference to a Patsey GIBSON or Patsey GUILLAM in any of the documents dealing with the other GIBSONs that I have seen so far. My Robert and Sarah Gibson were in Hamilton Co. by 1838 possibly sooner. This is based on a land transaction record. There are a few other clues that would indicate they arrived sooner. But I am wondering if this Robert and Polly are in anyway related to Robert and Sarah Gibson. Oh well, more digging around the brickwalls. Thanks for all your help, Darlene. In fact thanks to everybody on the list for helping out so much. Barb in Savannah,GA