Thanks to all subscribers of MadKY rootsweb who tried to help me with my *Tripod* problem when I tried to read the online family history of the Nathaniel Hart family compiled by William A. LaBach some years ago. A distant cousin, who also has roots in Madison Co. (and elsewhere in Kentucky) was able to copy the material and send it to me. I hope LaBach will be able to update the family history in the not-too-distant future. As many of you know, many of the early settlers of Madison Co. (and Boonesborough) came from North Carolina, and Hart was among that group. One of the Hart brides--Susannah Simpson--was the sister of Elizabeth (Bettie) Oldham nee Simpson, the wife of Jesse Oldham, whose progeny are numerous. Jesse died testate in Madison Co. ca 1814. Much of the Oldham family history as given in W. H. Miller's giant work is very flawed. He mixed up the North Carolina (Caswell Co., NC) Oldhams with those of Jefferson Co., KY. The latter group, I have been told by a genealogist-descendant of that group of Oldhams, came to Kentucky directly from Virginia. On the other hand, the origns of the Jesse Oldham family (and probably a lot of his brothers) are clouded in mystery. We believe, based on Lloyd D. Bockstruck's work, Colonial Soldiers of Virginia, that Jesse Oldham, age 21 in 1755 of Virginia was from the area around what is now Fauquier Co., VA. However, after years of searching for Oldhams, neither I nor other researchers, including some professionals of Virginia, are able to link Jesse Oldham to any parents. Jesse Oldham was on the 1755 roll of Capt. John Ashby, Ashby being a name found in many Fauquier co. records--after the French and Indian War. Fauquier Co. was not formed until 1759, and by 1763, Jesse seems to have been a chain carrier for his brother James in the area around Orange Co., NC. Where was Jesse during the French and Indian War? Was he at Pittsburgh? Although there is a hint (but no PROOF) that Jesse MAY have been the son of a Richard Oldham and an Elizabeth Basye, of Northern Neck Virginia, no one has been able to produce a document which links the two men. Because the records of Caswell Co., NC and of Madison Co., KY seem complete, we can learn a lot about Oldhams in those two counties--after they went West. The deeds are especially enlightening. The Virginia origins of these NC Oldhams seem based on tradition, rather than fact. Is anyone on the list able to dig around in old courthouses in likely places in Virginia? According to a recent book of taxables for Fauquier Co., VA, some researchers are still finding fragile and decaying documents in some of those old courthouses!!! (I wonder how many records got burned or flooded?) Oh, yes, there are some Oldhams on the first taxable list for Fauquier Co. Jesse is not one of the taxables. References will be shared if you request - politely, that is. E.W.Wallace