Hi Janean & others, The WILSON group is a collateral which I'm trying to follow to help find clues on more precise migration times for my branch of the RISTER family. Jacob Rister's birth place is consistently listed as SC in census (both his & his children's) and mortality schedule. It seems similar records of Harmon Rister's children are used to indicate his birth place of SC, but not certain on that. Available evidence sure points to Jacob and Harmon being at least two of a handful of Rister brothers, but we descendants of these fellows don't seem to have located solid documentation as yet. My branch took off just prior to 1850 to just over the northern border of Illinois, into WI (statehood ca.1848); where most of the rest of the Rister group stayed in southern or central IL or moved west and south. Along with my Rister branch, many other SE Illinois/SW Indiana families moved to the Grant County, Wisconsin area...quite a large contingent. If any of you have hit brick walls, and are considering looking at collateral lines to find clues, try there. Mostly Southern Grant County (Paris, Harrison, Smelser, Hazel Green, Jamestown, Potosi). I have little on the John Wilson who married Jacob Rister's daughter, Lucinda. I show that Jn was born son of Thos & Cath (Saltzman) Wilson about 1826 in Posey Co., IN and he's listed as widower in Grant Co., WI in 1880 (Lucinda died in 1878); with four of their seven children at home. I'm guessing their marriage took place in Wayne Co., IL because despite looking around for it in various places, a record doesn't show up. I'm not sure if this John Wilson and his father Thomas are part of that large group PA>IN>IL. It sure would seem so at this point. Partial reasoning for this is that besides various census returns, a biography of John & Lucinda Rister Wilson's eldest daughter hints to Pennsylvania roots (incorrectly stating that both her parents were natives; when Lucinda was born IL; John in IN; and likely her paternal grandparents were the true PA natives). You can find Margaret Wilson Withrow's bio from, "Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin", included in the Grant Co. portion of the WIGenWeb, from the index URL below. http://www.rootsweb.com/~wigrant/bioindex.htm I'm trying desperately to locate any of my RISTERs in the only census which would include the largest portion of them, individually named in one home (all sans the eldest, Lucy) -- the 1850. The only possible lead I have on Lucinda & John Wilson is for Jefferson County, IN; but despite the names fitting, that couple has no daughter and a nearby Wilson family doesn't seem to fit the profile of John's kin. It could be them, nonetheless. The question still remains of where in creation is Jacob & Tabitha Parrish Rister and their remaining children, Henry, Mary & Nancy in 1850? Two sources indicate the family moved from Wayne/Clay County, IL to Grant, WI about 1842 or 1847, but they are nowhere to be found from southeast, IL to southwest, WI. Frustrated... :-/ I do know that some years ago, Dennis G., a distant cousin and descendant of that Jn & Luci Rister Wilson family did post some queries on the message boards. We exchanged a couple of private email, but have since lost touch. I don't think he was actively researching that line at the time. I'd love to hear from him again, and see if he could shed more light on the story. If you think any more clues from what modest bits I've gathered on my collateral Wilson family might benefit your research, let me know. Happy, Healthy & Safe Thanksgiving to All! Di - CA -- In a message dated 03/11/21 2:02:27 PM, ILWHITE-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: << Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 17:01:06 -0500 From: JRay38 @ neo. rr. com Interested in this Wilson family. Also, what do you have on Harmon and where were they from. WILSON, ADAMS, SKILES, SMITH, MARLIN ----- Original Message ----- From: KinDetective Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 4:42 PM > Where is Jacob's eldest daughter, Lucinda Rister WILSON (John L. b. Posey, > IN) in the 1850, when her first daughter, Margaret Wilson Withrow was >>