Hi, Doug: I'm not having any luck in finding a Van Nest in the early (1790-1820) York county census material. I did find: These are from Heritage Quest: Series: M653  Roll: 930  Page: 231 1860 - Rowsburg, Ashland Co., OH - 6/16/1860 Van Nest, John - 45 - m - Saddler - PA ---------- Sarah - 42 - f - PA ---------- Catherine Ann - 20 - f - OH ---------- Joseph P. - 18 - m - OH ---------- Mary F. - 15 - f - OH ---------- Roseannah - 13 - f - OH ---------- Leucretia - 9 - f - OH ---------- Arabell - 6 - f - OH ---------- Emma F. - 4 - f - OH Series: M593  Roll: 1169  Page: 789 1870 - Perry Twp., Ashland Co., OH - 6/16/1870 Van Nest, John - 55 - m - w - harness maker - PA ---------- Sarah - 52 - f - w - PA ---------- Catherine - 29 - f - w - OH ---------- Lucretia - 18 - f - w - OH ---------- Annabelle - 16 - f - w - OH ---------- Emma F. - 14 - f - w - OH ---------- Oretta - 9 - f - w - OH Series: T623  Roll: 1237  Page: 186 1900 - Perry Twp., Ashland Co., OH - June 1900 Van Nest, John - head - w - m - 12/1814 - 85 - widowed - PA/NJ/MD - harness maker Kline, Etta - daughter - w - f - 10/1860 - 39 - 1st marriage - 0 children/0 living - OH/PA/PA ------ Simon R. - son-in-law - w - m - 2/1853 - 47 - 1st marriage - OH/PA/PA - stone mason This is from familysearch.org :   Household: 1880  Name  Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace  John VAN NEST   Self   M   Male   W   65   PA   Harness Maker   NJ   MD   Sarah VAN NEST   Wife   M   Female   W   61   PA   House Keeper   PA   PA   Etta VAN NEST   Dau   S   Female   W   19   OH   At Home   PA   PA  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Source Information:   Census Place Rowsbury, Ashland, Ohio   Family History Library Film   1254991   NA Film Number   T9-0991   Page Number   197B John Van Nest     Compact Disc #22     Pin #502917 Sex: M Event(s): Birth:  14 Dec 1814 Place:  Dillsburg,York County,PA Death:  14 Jun 1903 Place:  Rowsburg,Ashland County,Ohio Parents: Father:  John Warne Van Nest     Disc #22     Pin #502910 Mother:  Abigail Warne     Disc #22     Pin #502911 Marriage(s): Spouse:  Sarah Weiler     Disc #22     Pin #503034 Marriage:  3 May 1839 Place:  Notes and Sources: Notes:  Available on CD-ROM Disc# 22 Sources: None Submitter: Stephen ELMORE 21357 S Essex Dr Lexington Park, MD 20653 John Warne Van Nest     Compact Disc #22     Pin #502910 Sex: M Event(s): Birth:  1 Apr 1774 Place:  Readington,New Jersey Death:  23 Sep 1862 Place:  Moreland,Wayne County,Ohio Parents: Father:  John Van Nest     Disc #22     Pin #502921 Mother:  Sarah Bodine     Disc #22     Pin #502922 Marriage(s): Spouse:  Abigail Warne     Disc #22     Pin #502911 Marriage:  1797 Place:  New Jersey Notes and Sources: Notes:  Available on CD-ROM Disc# 22 Sources: None Submitter: Stephen ELMORE 21357 S Essex Dr Lexington Park, MD 20653 There's more info from this submitter on this family on familysearch.org . Because of this submitter showing the father's birthplace as NJ, I went back to Heritage Quest and re-searched...here are the head-of-household listings for VanNest in 1790: Surname Given Name State County Location Year VANNEST  JERONIMUS   NY ALBANY BALLSTOWN 1790 VANNEST  JOHN     NY ALBANY BALLSTOWN 1790 VANNEST  JOHN TAILO   PA PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA 1790 ...in 1800: VANNEST  RYNIER   NY SCHOHARIE MIDDLEBURGH 1800 ...in 1810: VANNEST  ABRAHAM   NY CAYUGA AURELIUS 1810 VANNEST  ABRM     NY NEW YORK 1-WD NEW YORK 1810 VANNEST  GEORGE   NY ALBANY GUILDERLAND 1810 ...in 1820: VANNEST  ABRAHAM   NY NEW YORK 1-WD NEW YORK 1820 VANNEST  GEORGE   NY CAYUGA AURELIUS 1820 VANNEST  JEREMOMUS NY JEFFERSON PAMELIA 1820 VANNEST  JOHN     IN VIGO NO TWP LISTED 1820 VANNEST  JOSEPH   OH BUTLER REILY 1820 VANNEST  PETER   KY MERCER NO TWP LISTED 1820 Hope there's something useful here. Debra On Thursday, Aug 26, 2004, at 01:09 US/Eastern, doug wrote: > Trying to get a middle name and any other info for John VanNest > that > left Dillsburg Pa.To go to Wooster Ohio in 1838 with a son also name > John > VanNest. The father born 1774 and the son born 1814. > They may have traveled with a family named Weiler to Wooster Ohio. > Thanks for any help. This in a book is all I have on > them. > > This from the 1880 history of Ashland County by Geo. W. Hill > JOHN VAN NEST, was born Dec. 1,1814 in York county, PA. He attended > common > schools, learned the trade of a saddler in 1831-32 , came to Wooster, > Wayne > county, in 1838, and worked until 1839. He married Miss Sarah Wiley, of > Smithville, Wayne county, May 2, 1839, moved to Rowsburg the same > month, and > has carried on business ever since. He has served as a justice of the > peace > six terms. He was elected commissioner in 1864, and served two terms. > He has > been a member of the Lutheran church since 1849. His ancestors were > from > Holland, and located in New Jersey. His father, John Van Nest, located > in > York county, PA., and came to Wayne county in 1838, and died in > Millbrook, > in 1862, aged eighty seven. > John Van Nest is the father of ten children - two dead eight living. > > > > > > ==== PA-YORK-GEN Mailing List ==== > Come join us at the Pennsylvania Dutch website at: > http://midatlantic.rootsweb.com/padutch/ > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >