Amen to cousin Terry and the information about Phillip Helsley's papers. They are a treasure trove, and don't expect to go through both large portfolios in one day. [I love my "Library of Virginia" diet -- I get to busy to go eat when I'm there.] Plan at least two. However, regarding William Helsley: I was disappointed not to find confirmation of his father among those papers. Nonetheless, at the national meeting of the National Genealogy Society in Richmond last month, I discussed the matter with several prominent researchers. They suggested a professional "preponderance of evidence" technique, which I am going to apply. To do that effectively, I would like to have as much information on the known children and grandchildren of Peter as possible. It is a tedious process, but one I can do with help from the VASHENAN family! I need to have all data to compare and review! I have access to original census documents, a copy of Peter's will as entered in the Will book, Frederick's Will, and some other publicly available documents. However, I would like to have information from every possible source regarding the children and grandchildren of Peter. Could you please forward SOURCE INFORMATION to me? Trees will not be helpful unless they include sources of information, only letters, transcriptions of Bibles, land sales, tax records, notes of conversations with older relatives, etc. If anyone has an obituary for William, or even a death date, that would be helpful. Please put William's name in the subject line, if you email. If you want to send photocopies of documents, my "snail mail" address follows. With your help, I would LOVE to solve this mystery. Jane Helsley Mitakides 5323 Split Rail Road Dayton, Ohio 45429 In a message dated 7/6/2007 2:28:42 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Cousins and All, I recently visited the Archives and Manuscripts room at the Library of Virginia (the state archives and library) and saw the Philip Helsley papers. There are about 16 folders of material from this man who was justice of peace serving the Conicville, Liberty Furnace, Columbia Furnace area. He is not a direct ancestor but in a close collateral line. I was looking primarily for the long lost parents of my Civil War soldier ancestor William Helsley. Although I was unable to find parents for William, the papers confirm once again that Peter Helsley was William's grandfather and estate settlement of Peter Helsley and others are importants papers in the collection. So hurry to Richmond if you had ancestors in the area between 1840 to the end of the century. There are even personal letters into the 20th century - specially from/to Minnie Helsley. Most records are from the 1850s. If you have a Trook ancestor, you should check out the Helsley papers. Other names include Delllinger, Andrick, Funkhouser, and others you would expect in the neighborhood. Be careful to follow the rules. I got so excited that I had more than one folder out at a time which is a no-no. The staff is very helpful and the parking is free under the building. They are open on Saturday from 9-5 and that worked great when I was there. The library/archives is next to the state capitol at Broad and 9th St. This is going over ground already trod by Jane Helsley Mitakides. But since we both have been through the papers without finding William's father, we'll have to look elsewhere in our continuing search. This is already too long so I won't tell you about the rest of my eventful weekend with my 87 year old in-laws. We had a great time. Terry Helsley ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.