Shirley, There is no doubt that the census taker wrote "Pennsylvania" next to William Neville in the 1850 Pike Co. census. It is fully written out in the most bold and beautiful handwriting that you could ever hope to find in the census data. If he was not sure of his birthplace, perhaps he had some recollection of Pennsylvania from his early childhood. I have a theory that William's father was John H. Nevil, and that he probably left his family in western Pennsylvania while establishing a home in Kentucky, using the Ohio River for transportation as many did in those days. A Kentucky land grant is listed for John Nevill, Jefferson Co., 1783, on Clear and Jesse Creeks. There is probably more than one Clear Creek in then Jefferson Co. but I believe the most notable one flows through Shelby Co. and Shelbyville. Assuming that this is one John Nevil(le), he must have already left his original home by 1783. William was born about 1785. I think the possibility of a connection to John Neavill of Fauquier VA is quite promising. The naming of Nevill children in Shelby Co. shows some allegiance with the family of Gen. John Neville of Ft. Pitt. For William I have probable sons Presley, Joseph B., and John T. Amelia who married George Frederick in Shelby Co. (1808) was the daughter of John (H?) Nevill. Unfortunately, William may be the only one of his generation living in 1850 making it difficult to confirm the PA connection via census data. On the other hand, confirmation the PA connection may not be too useful. Western PA could have been the jumping off point for many KY immigrants from various states, but wouldn't a 1783 Kentucky land grant have to be filed in Richmond VA? I have been unable to locate this John Nevill land grant in the University of VA digital library. Would the full text of the document be available anywhere else? It may not be too useful either since they tend to identify more trees than people.:-) Has anyone looked for will/probate records for John H. Nevil of Shelby Co? I would certainly like to do that but don't know when I will have the opportunity. This doesn't look like a brick wall any more, but it probably will require some field work at the KY archives and elsewhere to solve. At 10:43 PM 4/9/99 -0400, you wrote: >The 1850 census of Pike Co MO may be wrong as to the birth state of >William N. Neville. My guess is that it should be VA. Do you have a birth >date for him? What children do you have for this family? > >Shirley > > >On Fri, 9 Apr 1999 14:08:11 EDT [email protected] writes: >>Hi George >> >>I am on the Neville rootsweb, and found this message pertainging to >>William >>Neville in the 1850 cencus of Pike county I am sure they are my >>Nevilles. I >>have not been able to find the parents of William and was >>surprisednthat he >>was born in Pennsyvania. I also went thro the 1850 census for Pike >>co. They >>Lucy B I think is Lucy Blakey Oglesby. The ages on the census agrees >>with >>the dates of birth of each.. I have some information on the oglesby, >>but I >>can not connect William to any of the Nevilles. I do have the middles >> >>initial :N: for him. The data in the files of the LDS church is that >> >>William was born in Shlby Kentucky, so I am still working on >>him. It does have Mary Ann Neville as being married to Joseph Bonham. >> >>Do you think this is who you are searching for? >> >>After rereading a message you sent 2-28 you were intriged by the >>name >>Lydia Evans Neville, she is my direct ancestor married to Prince >>Edward >>Trabue 1834 in >>Mo. I have also have a feeling the Evans is a family name but can not >>trace >>it to any >>Neville >> >> >>==== NEVILLE Mailing List ==== >>Visit the Neville Heritage Society Home Page: >>http://www.prairienet.org/neville/ >> > >___________________________________________________________________ >You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. >Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html >or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] > > >==== NEVILLE Mailing List ==== >Visit the Neville Heritage Society Home Page: >http://www.prairienet.org/neville/ > > ------------------ George Allison Dixon, CA