This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Sale Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/1UB.2ACE/8305.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Let's work through this. The 1793 birth year is a big help. The patriarch of the Wilkes County family, William Sale Sr., had seven sons: Cornelius (abt 1749), Leonard (abt. 1751), Thomas (abt 1755), William (abt 1759), John (abt 1761), James (abt 1769) and Robert (abt 1772). I have placed them in the order mentioned in their father's 1788 will, which is supported by the order in which they show up on tax lists and, in the case of Robert, his age on the 1850 census. Cornelius had four sons, including a William. Since this William is the first one mentioned in Cornelius' will (proved in 1811), I suspect that he is the son who was over 16 in the 1790 census entry for Cornelius' household, and that he was born about 1772. I have lots of information on the three other brothers, but next to nothing on William of Cornelius. Leonard is my 4th great grandfather. He just had three sons: William, John & Enoch. The first son mentioned in his will is William. Inasmuch as Leonard had just two males under 16 in his household in 1790, but two males 16-25 and one 10-15 in 1800, I have imagined that William was born about 1782, John in or about 1784, and Enoch late in 1790. So if I'm right, this William (son of Leonard) doesn't fit the timing of your man. Moreover, he came too late to be the father of your 1793 William. The earliest he would have been having children would have been about 1800, and as I say it looks as though he was still at home, single, in 1800. Thomas (son of the patriarch William) is a big mystery. He's on the 1790 and 1800 censuses of Wilkes County, but gone by 1810. Did he have a son William in 1793 and then go to Tennessee??? I can't say, but it's worth scouring Tennessee looking for him. Obviously William Sale Jr. is way too old to be the William Sale born in 1793, and of course since the patriarch William Sale was dead by 1793 you know that your man pretty much has to be a grandson (if not a great-grandson). William Sale Jr. left only fleeting traces in Wilkes County. Since I know nothing about the family of William Sale Jr., I can't rule him out as the father of your man. Another person to find in Tennessee. I don't have much on John Sale (son of William Sr.), either. He was single as of his first tax in 1782. I find no marriage bond for him in Wilkes, but I have nothing to say that he couldn't have married and had a son by 1793. For some reason I did not find him on the 1800 census. But in 1810 he's back, with a son 10-16 and another one in the 17-25 bracket, which is where your William would fit if indeed he''s John's son. John is gone by 1820, so again here's someone to look for in Tennessee, hopefully in the same county where your William first appears. James Sale doesn't seem very promising. He had three sons on the 1810 census, but none over 16 years old. Thus, your William, who then would have been 17, either doesn't belong to this family or had already left home. I can be more definite in the case of Robert Sale, the youngest son. He stayed practically his whole life in Wilkes County (though born in Halifax). Robert did have a son William, but this William was not born until about 1815 (age 35 on the 1850 census). This doesn't answer your question, but at least I would hope that your search will be easier now that I've pretty much narrowed it down to three candidates for the father of your William Sale. I have not researched the family in Tennessee at all, so I suspect that you may very well find some extremely useful documents there. Let me know what you come up with.