Hey there Linda - one step at a time ... nice and slow and easy ... you first need to find out what William's father's name was ... and then are you check out all of the various variant spellings ? you can't really hop-scotch and end up in VA without researching the gap in between first :) your "blank wall" seems like a crash course headed for disappointment ... the 1850 census index at Ancestry.com has none with the exact spelling your are wanting :( using the soundex, up pops 346 possibilities ... here is a few I picked out .... shelto, shillett, shallott etc. :) lots to weed through ... this doesn't mean your spelling isn't anymore correct than these I have mentioned, just wanted to point out not everyone spelled it exactly the same from location to location, and document to document or year to year ... how does that saying go ? variety, the spice of life :) or is it a genealogist's night mare :/ depends on how you look at it, and then devise a plan to over come it :) do you have access to the census images at either Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com ? How about a LDS Family History Center near you ? many of their facilities have access to Ancestry.com, and they also have the census records on micro film ... if they don't have the particular film your interested in, they can order it for you from Salt Lake ... here is what I was able to locate so far :) 1850 - not able to locate anything yet ... can't figure out what spelling variant or how it might have been spelled phonetically :/ usually pretty good at figuring these out ... most days :) after nothing coming up in various searches ... I scanned through each sheet for the townships of Clinton, Eugene and Perrysville in Vermillion Co., IN [36, 28 and 19 pg's respectfully] and seen nothing that would look like any kind of a match :( was a bit hopeful of maybe finding William F. at home with his parents, then we might know what his father's name was ... the remaining twp's. to search, are Vermillion has 42 pgs, Highland has 37 pgs, Helt has 51 pgs ... wonder if Sheltaw might be another variant spelling to watch for also :) oh well at any rate here is the 1860-70 census records I was able to locate for you :) 1860 June 8th - Eugene Twp., Vermillion Co., IN pg. 11 [note index as an E on the end instead of an O, but reads as shown here, with the double L] 86-86 William F. Shellato 25 m Farmer [per. est. 500] Indiana Maria " 23 f Illinois William " 2 m Indiana James M. " 2 m do Henry Dutchmaid 23 m Laborer Germany 1870 July 19 - Eugene Twp., Vermillion Co., IN pg. 17 109-113 Shilatoe Wm. F. 37 m w Farmer 2000/500 Indiana Maria 34 f w Keeps House Illinois cannot write William 12 m w Indiana att'd. sch. James [A.?] 10 m w do att'd. sch. Alexander 8 m w do att'd. sch. Thomas M. 7 m w do att'd. sch. Mary A. 5 f w Illinois Dora M. 3 f w do Samuel 2 m w Indiana John 7/12 m w do born in Jan. Harper Cynthia 19 f w Domestic Servt. Illinois and you already appear to have the 1880 census, or at least know about it :) dwelling/family 70-70 on page 8 - Eugene Twp., Vermillion Co., IN William F. Shelato age 47 born IN father [VA ? looks like could be PA maybe] mother Canada son William missing presumed to be married ? daughter Mary is listed as Alice and three more children added :) Grace 7, Frank 5 and Maria F. age 3 ... that's it for now ... enjoy ! Ken - like a smile ... genealogical kindness causes a chain reaction :) > [Original Message] > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 12/14/2005 1:05:41 PM > Subject: [VAROOTS] Shelato Surname > > I have been trying to research the Shelato surname and am hitting the blank > wall. According to the 1880 census of Indiana it lists William F. Shelato > being born in Indiana, and his father being born in Virginia. Is there anyway > to check the census records prior to 1880 in Virginia to see if there were > any Shelato's listed. I'm trying to find out where this family originated > from. > > Thanks you. > Linda (Shelato) Pudlo > > > ============================== > View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find > marriage announcements and more. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx