Hiram Pickering, my great-great-great grandfather, was born in Virginia about 1803 (1850 census). He was named the groom in a marriage bond posted in March 1828 and naming as the bride Sophia Ann Posey. His eldest child was born about 1832 (1850 census). A blacksmith, he sold his business property but retained its use - probably what we would do today by borrowing against it - in 1836 (real estate records at Romney). In 1840 (census), he heads a household that includes a son of the right age to be my great-great grandfather, Joseph F. Pickering. Hiram repeated the sell-but-retain business maneuver in 1848 (real estate records at Romney). In 1850 (census), he heads a household at Slanesville that includes Joseph, then 9, six other children and a wife named Sophia rather than Sarah. He has been a convict (census), and this Sophia appears to have been born Sophia Peer (1872 death record of their son, Timothy). In 1856, Hiram sells his business again (real estate records at Romney) but this time may have done so as we mean the term today; I have no further record of him. In 1860 (census), his estranged/widowed wife Sophia and their children are living in Paw Paw. Since some of those children may have stayed on or left descendants in Hampshire County, I will close Hiram's paragraph by listing their names: Mary E., John, William OR James(known to have been in Ohio by 1870), Ann Rebecca, Timothy, Sarah C. and Margaret E. Joseph was born about 1841 (1850 and 1860 censuses). In 1860, he was a 19-year-old blacksmith (census). Family lore UNconfirmed by any direct records says he moved to Missouri just before the Civil War; by 1869, he was in Ohio (marriage license) - where he married a native of Hampshire-neighboring Hardy County. His 1913 obituary says the move to Ohio came just after the Lincoln assassination, but some evidence contradicts this. His son, my great grandfather John Franklin "Frank" Pickering, never lived in Hampshire County but used to go there to hunt in the Cacapin Mountains with an uncle or cousin or friend. While I have no proof that Hiram was born in Hampshire County, there are (scanty) records of one earlier Pickering there - whom I therefore suspect may be Hiram's father. Benjamin Pickering appeared in the censuses of 1810, 1820 and 1830, and he also witnessed a will that was written in the county in 1824. Researching these 8 greats: Pickering-Snyder-Roach-Teegardin-Hodges-Evans-Kantner-Shifflet + these contributing Pickering/Snyder lines: Orndorff-Kinsey-Beall And, of course, many more! Peruse our entire GEDCOM at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~kpickering ONWARD AND BACKWARD! Kurt Pickering, IBSSG La Vergne, TN _________________________________________________________________ Get reliable dial-up Internet access now with our limited-time introductory offer. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup

New info on my McCullough family has just come to me. John McCullough was born in Belfast, Ireland Oct. 7, 1803 John McCullough married Mary Mahoney 1834 or 1835 in Hampshire Co. Questions: 1. Are there immigrations records in Hampshire Co.? 2. Are marriage records available in Hampshire Co. for 1834/5 or elsewhere? 3. John McCullough worked on the B & O Railroad. So are there any employment records? 4. John McCullough lived on the Potomac River & his first son, Edward, was born in Hampshire Co. The census record for 1850 is in District 24. Does this pinpoint where they lived? Any guidance would be appreciated. Elizabeth, great granddaughter of Edward McCullough

I think District 24 encompassed all of Hampshire Co. in 1850. Living on the river only narrows it down a bit, since branches and tributaries of the Potomac run through much of the county, but particularly near the WV/MD border. You should probably get a good, detailed map of the area. In 1860, a (younger) 26-yr old John McCullough, brakesman for the RR, was living with the Robert Butler family in Piedmont, Hampshire Co., VA. The Butlers ran a boarding house. --- Elizabeth Whitten <ewhitten2@comcast.net> wrote: > > Questions: > 4. John McCullough lived on the Potomac River & > his first son, Edward, was > born in Hampshire Co. > The census record for 1850 is in District 24. > Does this pinpoint where they > lived? > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003 http://search.yahoo.com/top2003

Thank you Genie for your input. I have spent several hours at the library this morning and was unable to get a more detailed map than in my World books and a world atlas. I also found the younger 26 year old John McCullough in the 1860 census. He could be a cousin to my Edward McCullough, especially since he too was working on the rail road. Thanks again for you comments. Every little bit adds to the puzzle of our family history. Elizabeth

At 09:26 AM 01/03/2004 -0600, Elizabeth Whitten wrote: >New info on my McCullough family has just come to me. > >John McCullough was born in Belfast, Ireland Oct. 7, 1803 > >John McCullough married Mary Mahoney 1834 or 1835 in Hampshire Co. > > >Questions: >1. Are there immigrations records in Hampshire Co.? No. It was never a port of entry. Philadelpha PA is the most likely, with Baltimore MD and Alexandria VA next-most. >2. Are marriage records available in Hampshire Co. for 1834/5 or elsewhere? No marriage bonds exist for Hampshire county in that time period. Elsewhere in VA, apparently, they DO exist. The few bonds from the late 1830s that exist are indexed on-line on the County GenWeb site (URL in my sig below). >3. John McCullough worked on the B & O Railroad. So are there any employment >records? Yes, but I doubt they are available. The ones I looked for weren't and they were from about a century later. >4. John McCullough lived on the Potomac River & his first son, Edward, was >born in Hampshire Co. >The census record for 1850 is in District 24. Does this pinpoint where they >lived? Don't think so, but I'll have a look at the census and see what I can see. However, are you sure they lived on the POTOMAC in Hampshire county? If so, that *does* limit the area in which they COULD have lived. Very little of Hampshire is on the Potomac; most of it is along the South Branch of the Potomac. Cheryl WVHampsh GenWeb CC *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Cheryl Singhal (Singhals@erols.com) http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cpafug/ http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvhampsh/ http://bottonycross.purpleflowers.net (Bottony Cross DAR) http://www.rootsweb.com/~cresap/ http://members.fortunecity.com/csinghal1/ (Joanna Waddill UDC)

At 09:26 AM 01/03/2004 -0600, Elizabeth wrote: >John McCullough was born in Belfast, Ireland Oct. 7, 1803 >4. John McCullough lived on the Potomac River & his first son, Edward, was >born in Hampshire Co. >The census record for 1850 is in District 24. Does this pinpoint where they >lived? Is this the man indexed as John McCully, born Ireland? And who appears in the 1870 as John McCulloch? If so -- in 1870, he was in Bloomery district; in 1850, he's 12 houses away from Peter Alkire and 4 or 5 --in the other direction-- from Samuel Arnold, if that helps anyone tell you where he was. I don't hear any chimes myself. Cheryl *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Cheryl Singhal (Singhals@erols.com) http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cpafug/ http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvhampsh/ http://bottonycross.purpleflowers.net (Bottony Cross DAR) http://www.rootsweb.com/~cresap/ http://members.fortunecity.com/csinghal1/ (Joanna Waddill UDC)