This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Nelson, Jones, Smith, Woodward, Ford, Hampton, Merritt, Ramsey, Williams, Free, Queen, Ault Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SFB.2ACI/4234.1.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: The names certainly seem to fit the later naming patterns of my ancestor, John Ford. In looking over a book that Edith Wilson Hutton wrote on this John Ford (1759-1819) she has the following: 1) Lloyd Ford Sr. (1727-1816) received two NC land grants in 1783 and first settled along Sinking Creek in Sullivan County; a few years later he moved further up the Creek into Washington County along with several of his sons, including one named John (not my John). This John Ford appeared on the tax lists beginning in 1801 through 1810 with no land; in 1811 he appears on the tax list with 85 acres his father deeded him. From then until the mid 1820s he appears on the tax lists taxed on this same 85 acres. In 1824 this John had a zero white poll on the tax list indicating he had become age 50 that year and making his birth year 1774. This John Ford made his will 11 April 1838 but did not die until after the 1840 census; his name appeared on the 1840 tax list and in 1841 his widow's name (Susannah) appears. 2) My John Ford obtained a 100 acre NC land grant on Sinking Creek Washington County in 1784. He received an additional 178 acre grant at the same location in 1790. He appeared on the tax lists beginning in 1787. Through his land transfers and the tax lists one can pick out this John Ford on subsequent tax lists. The 1809 tax list indicates that this John Ford was age 50 in that year making his birth year 1759. He died 10 years later with no will. At the April Session of Court in 1819 a Nathan Shipley was appointed administrator of his estate and an inventory of his estate was presented in July 1819. Edith writes in her book that probably our John Ford and Lloyd Ford were related somehow since both came to the area about the same time. She notes that it has been suggested that our John was Lloyd's nephew but this has not been established. Other Fords of the Sullivan County area which seem to match the names in your list are Frederick T.C.D. Ford who purchased 194 acres of land from John Ford (of William). (This is how the transfer reads - perhaps this is John Ford who was William's son in your list?). In 1811 a John Ford Senoir sold 102 acres to Frederick T.C. Ford. A witness to this deed was John C. D. Ford. This John Ford having originally purchased 394 acres of land from a Samuel Billingsley in 1790 in Sullivan County (and sold 100 of the acres in 1795) was then left with no land and drops off the tax lists in Sullivan County where he had previously appeared. It is not thought that this John Ford was our John Ford. While not all the children of John Ford and his wife Sarah have been identified there are no occurrences of the name Lloyd in any of the families of these children; neither do the names Edmund, Charles, Horatio, Barney, Joshua, or Benjamin appear. The name Thomas does appear in subsequent generations, however John Ford's daughter Leah married a Thomas Murray and the children could be named for him. The name Leah does appear several times. A couple of other facts: 1) John Ford's daughter Hannah and her husband Nathaniel moved from Washington County TN in 1841 to Campbell County. Prior to their departure they sold their 82 acre farm to Elizabeth, Rhoda, Sarah Frances, Barbary, and Louisa Jane Ford to be theirs after the death of Susannah Ford - these are the children and widow of Lloyd Ford's son John Ford. Perhaps this land transfer indicates a family tie here. 2) Early Campbell County tax records show the presence of an Enock, Joseph and Mordecai Ford in the area. They appear to have been short time residents of the area. No record of land ownership was found for Enock or Joseph. Mordecai seems to have settled in the area in the 1820s and appears on the 1830 censuss along with John Ford's son Stephen Ford who was the only other Ford family in the area at that time. Mordecai owned 50 acres of land on Little Elk Fork Creek which he sold in 1832. The last mention of Mordecai was in some court minutes in 1838. He does not appear on the 1840 census. So as you can see from your list I can find a lot of the names in this area with my John Ford. Yes, I do think there is a tie but I'm not sure just where he ties in - perhaps he is the son of John Ford who has a son John born in your list in 1753. If he does how can I establish this link??