Middlegeorgiagenie (MGG) has, in several other threads (see William P. Melson's parents, Melsons moving to GA from MD/VA/DE) has dangled some enticing snippets regarding the Melson clan in Georgia that may, just may, allow me to knock one of the bricks out of the James G Melson brickwall. Unfortunately, though, she doesn't seem to reply to messages here and can only be contacted for a fee via the Ancestry members service.

Thanks to the Lewis Melson book, we know that there were Melsons in Georgia in the late 1700s, among them Daniel (III) and _a_ John. And, if MGG's information is correct, it appears that John and his wife - Hannah Parsons (??) - fostered several children from a Wynn(e) family.

In my line, my 3g gpa is James Guinn/Gwinn Melson, whose earliest documented appearance appears to be in Mississippi Territory in 1802. His age cohort in the 1830 US Census for Arkansas suggests he was born between 1770-1779 but, of course, gives no clue where (some have suggested what would become Missouri Territory, but I remain unconvinced). One version of a family legend has James' father - thought to be John - arriving in North America via an unnamed East Coast port from Germany or the Low Countries and serving in the Revolutionary War as an indian scout for "Mad" Anthony Wayne. I find no evidence whatever to support this, or any other, version of the legend, although I do think there's a kernel of truth in it/them.

Now, I suspect a Georgia connection based in part on the presence of Melsons in Georgia in the late 1700s and the fact that Mississippi Territory, or parts of it, were a Georgia state-sponsored, ummm, colony for several years before it became a self-governing _federal_ territory. I agree it's entirely possible that James may have made it to the Natchez area by flat- or keelboat from TN or western PA or points farther east, or may have come down the Natchez Trace from, say, eastern Tennessee. It's just as likely, though, that he came west from Georgia.

One of MGG's tidbits, the fostering of the Wynn(e) children is especially interesting, if we accept that James was NOT truly a Melson but one of those "orphaned" Wynn kids - it's an easy jump from Wynn to Guinn and it wasn't at all uncommon for fostered children to assume the surname of the family fostering them.

But, if James WAS a Melson, and his father was John, the John who migrated to GA might be a good candidate for his father if he's old enough. The one other possibility, from the Melson book and elsewhere, is the John Melson born ca. 1745 in Accomack, VA, to Joseph Middleton Melson and his first wife and named in Joseph's will of ca. 1754. This John, however, drops from sight after the will and only reappears, ghost-like, in a mention in Melson that he lived to the 1780s.

Having written the book, I wonder if some kind soul can shed some additional light and help me chip a brick out of the wall represented by James Guinn Melson.

Thanks.