This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MichaelWright12 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.wright/15905.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi Jennifer, A quick search for Presley produced nothing you probably don't already know. However, you didn't mention that he was a civil war veteran (90th Ohio Regiment, Company G Infantry. So he served for some time between 1862 (when the 90th was first organized at Camp Circleville, Lancaster, Ohio, near to Hocking) and 1865 (when the Regiment was discharged at Camp Dennison, OH. His company G was the second one raised from Hocking and it is probable that he did not serve the entire time between 1862 and 1865. In any case, there should be more of a pension record of his service than just what you get from the index card. If you haven't requested those records, I would urge you to try that first. Usually the pension records don't tell you much about the veteran's parents, just spouses and children, but sometimes you get lucky and parental information is also provided, particularly if they were still alive when the pension was filed. He would have been 35 when he got home if he stayed in to the end of the war, and since he lived to a very great age proba! bly came out of the war unwounded, so he may not have filed for a pension until late in life, long after his parents were both dead. It's worth it just to have those records, no matter what they do, or don't tell you about his parents. I am sure, to him and Lucinda and his children, those war years were a very big deal and a very trying time for a young family. It is obvious from the 1870 census that the family was totally uprooted by the Civil War experiences. In 1870 we find them gone from Ohio and living in Morgan, Cole Co. IL, and by 1880 in Iowa where they kind of settled down and lived out their lives. It is also possible that his parents or hers or both had died before 1870 so that they had no parental ties to Hocking and Vinton counties any longer and sought new opportunities in Illinois and Iowa as a result. Using these ideas as a framework for further research I would start by check Hocking county and Vinton county probate records for Wright and Reynolds wills & probate records from 1860 onward to see if you can find probably parents for both of them. Use the local Genealogical and Historical societies in these counties to help you search for these records, unless you are in a position to go there yourself and bother the clerk of the probate court to search for Wright and Reynolds records. If the probate searches fail to turn up something helpful, I would be surprised, but not defeated. The next thing to look at is any of the older histories of these two counties for stories about the first settlers. Presley's parents had to have arrived in Hocking or some nearby county between 1800 and 1830 when the land was wilderness, so they either arrived as early teenagers with their parents (Presley's grandparents) or as very very young adults in the company of parents who were among the earliest settlers of the area. It would be unusual that no one in the county ever took enough interest in its founding to write a book about it by 1900 when our national genealogical consciousness was first taking off. When reading these types of history books, look for migration patterns hidden in the narrative. Ask yourself, "where did most of the settlers in this county come from? Virginia? Connecticut? Massachusetts? Vermont?, New York? A combination? People settling Ohio after! the War of 1812 tended to come in groups from fairly distinct Eastern states locations. They did not all arrive at the same time in an Ohio location, but early settlers tended to recruit family and friends from back East to join them in Ohio between 1812 and 1830 and that is the way Ohio got populated in general: by clusters of loosely related family and friends from back East. If there are any early histories or centennial histories of Hocking and Vinton counties available the local Genealogical and Historical societies there would know about them and be able to point you to them. Try those things and if you still need help, give me another shout and let me see what else I can do. I will be in Ohio later this spring and might be able to do something local for you if you still need help. Good luck and Best Regards, Mike Wright Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.