Hello Ed Please follow me with my theory. On the 1850 Barbour Co. census there is William F. Wilson age 63 and wife Jane age 60 living 2 houses away from Daniel Wilson, wife Naomi, son Frederick age 4, and son James L, age 2. Barbour Co. is formed from Harrison, Lewis, and Randolph Counties March 3, 1843. In 1851 Upshur Co. is formed from Barbour Co. James L. Wilson is there in 1860 and 1870. Then James moves in with Isabelle Lee's family in Webster Co. This traces James pretty good so far. Now back to William F. Wilson. The William Wilson line goes as William Sr. married Elizabeth Blackburn, son William Jr.(brother of Col. Benjamin Payne) married Sarah Friend, son William Friend Wilson b. 1787 married Jane Booth b.1790. William Friend Wilson was in Barbour Co. The ages match to the William F. and Jane on the 1850 Barbour Co. census. See where I'm at? Below is part of the 1850 Barbour Co. census. The house numbers show how close they lived to each other. It is known that William Friend Wilson gave the land to build the Court House that would become the County Seat of Barbour Co.. He acquired the land from Daniel Booth. I think his father in Law. Son Daniel Wilson, James' father, would be named for Daniel Booth. What I need to do is document this theory. Al Wilson http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/va/barbour/1850/pg0097a.txt LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE 2 1406 1406 Wilson Wm F. 63 M . Blacksmith 8,000 V'a . . . . . 3 1406 1406 Wilson Jane 60 F . . . Va . . X . . 4 1406 1406 Wilson Rezin B. 21 M . Physician . Va 10 1408 1408 Wilson Dan'l 26 M . Clerk 1,600 Ohio . . . . Va written in and crossed out 11 1408 1408 Wilson Naomi 24 F . . . V'a . . . . . 12 1408 1408 Wilson Fredk E. 4 M . . . Va . . . . . 13 1408 1408 Wilson James L. 2 M . . . Va . . . . . http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/Barbour/barhistory.html "...The first meeting of the Barbour County court was held on April 3, 1843 at William F. Wilson's home. The county's justices of the peace elected Lair D. Morrall county clerk. The next order of business was to nominate a sheriff for referral to the governor. By tradition, the sheriff was whoever had served as a Justice of the Peace the longest. However, it was not clear if Isaac Booth or Joseph McCoy had served the longest as a Justice of the Peace. An election was held, and Joseph McCoy was recommended to the Governor for appointment..." "...Philippi was named the Barbour County seat by the Act that created the county on March 3, 1843. However, the city had existed for a long time before that. The land where the city is now located was originally called "Anglin's Ford," after the land's owner, William Anglin. No record has been found of William Anglin before 1789, but it is very likely that he lived in the area as early as 1783 or 1784. The land came into the possession of Daniel Booth around 1800. He had lived in the area since about 1787. After he gained possession of the land, it became known as "Booth's Ferry." The town's current name, Philippi, was established by the Act forming the county. By that time, the land was owned by William F. Wilson. The county court was to be built on two acres of land that would be bought from, or donated by, Mr. Wilson. The intent was to build the courthouse near the ferry, thus giving "convenient and easy access to the water." "...Philippi was named in honor of the same Philip Pendleton Barbour that the county was named after. The town was originally called Phillippa, a Latinized version of Philip. However, because of misunderstandings and misspellings, the town came to be known as Philippi. The city was incorporated on February 1, 1871 by an act of the Legislature..."