Hi Brock, I'll keep an eye out, but if you want fast info, go to the IN State Archives and ask a staff member to find this Clayton for you. They answer emails like that all the time. There is no doubt a charge, but it won't exhaust your resources. I am working in Greene Co IN entries at the present, and it will be months before I am through with this book. So you won't want to wait on me. We have all those counties you mentioned in IN. But Orleans is not in them, Orleans is Orange Co IN. I used to go through it several times a month on my way to Corydon, in Harrison Co. Most first entries that I find are in the 1819-1824 period you mention. An earlier date is rare in the book I'm working with, because the land was opened up and sold about that time. Now, there are areas of IN where land was sold earlier. Those areas would be along the river trading routes and Lake Michigan. But the average southern IN person who settled inland on land registered at Vincennes was seldom bought earlier. There are a few cases of private purchases, and I don't know the mechanics of the procedure used. The pattern seems to be (1) a few private purchases predating the (2) auction of public land in a specific district then (3) gradual purchase of the remaining land by speculators and private buyers. Sharon At 03:27 PM 12/16/1999 EST, you wrote: >Sharon Mills > >If by any chance you come across any Claytons prior to 1824 (earliest for >James Clayton) I would be very interested. > >The first recorded Clayton (James and David) is around 1819 but per history >those who moved to Indiana moved from the Ohio river from Washington co??? >and Shelby??? I cannot determine what is meant by these County entries. Is >it possible at that time there was a Shelby Co in IN or is the reference to >Shelby Co Kty?? Allen, Hamilton Co's????? > >Brock Robertson > >Tracing the Claytons of Orleans Ind. > > >