I am seeking to confirm the parentage of Nelson Sinclair of Fairplay Twp. I have a copy of his death certificate and the names of the parents are blank.

While the Goodspeed 1884 biography lists almost all the names of his siblings (there are several errors in this biography and Francis (Fannie who is also Mrs. Shelton) was listed twice while sister Elizabeth was omitted and it does not have all the names of Nelson's children that were alive in 1884), this biography does not name his parents.

Due to strong circumstantial evidence, it has been presumed that Nelson's parents were William Douglas Sinclair (aka Dudley) and Ruth Johnson who were married in Pulaski County Kentucky in October 1818. This is documented. However, the birthdates for the oldest children including Nelson's don't match up to the marriage date. Something is off - The two oldest children were either born out of wedlock or Ruth was a second wife (which is not mentioned in Nelson's biography). Oldest daughter Patsy by censuses is born about 1815-1817. Nelson's documented birthdate is 15 February 1818. That is the date on his headstone and on his death certificate. That means he was born before his parents married in October 1818. I understand that since there were no official records of birth, the people at that time played a guessing game, but perhaps there is a bible out there that has the accurate information in it.

Children of William D. and Ruth Sinclair:
Martha Patsy Sinkler married Thomas Lay in Orange County 1832
Nelson Sinclair married Elizabeth Tarter whereabouts unconfirmed 1848
Joseph Sinclair married Jane Wolfington in Orange County 1850
Isaac Sinclair married Anna Edwards in Martin County 1843
Nancy Sinclair married John Mason in Greene County 1840
Frances (Fannie) married Alexander Gault in Greene County 1848 and then John Shelton in 1849 in Greene County. Alexander is believed to have died, and their son Alexander Gault is living with Fannie and John Shelton to substantiate this marriage.
Elizabeth Sinclair, nothing known after 1870.

In 1830 Dudley Sinclair and his family are living in Orange County next to brother George Sinclair. By 1840 Dudley has died and Ruth is a widow.

Nelson marries Elizabeth Tarter in 1848 but the location has not been confirmed. It was either in Pulaski County near Wayne County or in Indiana.

Ruth follows her daughter, Patsy Lay who married Thomas Lay in 1832 in Orange County and is found living near the Thomas Lay family in Greene County in 1840. This matches up to Nelson's biography.

By 1850 Ruth is still living in Greene County where her daughter Nancy married John Mason December 1840 but daughter Patsy has moved to Martin County and is living near her brother Isaac Sinclair, and daughter Nancy Mason has moved to Daviess County with her family. (This same Mason family later married back into my immediate branch of the Sinclair family in Martin County.)

By 1860 Ruth is living in Martin County next to son Isaac Sinclair with her daughter Elizabeth and near the Laughlin family which their daughter married my GGG-uncle Wayman Sinclair.

By 1870 Ruth is presumed to have died.

I made a visit to Greene County once during the time the courthouse was under construction, so nothing was available at that time for research. I live in Chicago, and called before I came down and of course no one told me the courthouse was under construction and that the records were not available. I also spent some time in the genealogy room at the library but due to time constraints, I didn't have time to look very long.

However, any help would be appreciated. If there are any newspapers articles on microfilm regarding Nelson and/or Ruth Sinclair, or lawsuits on file etc etc. Nelson was a prosperous businessman and owned a brick factory, so there has to be information on record regarding him.

Also, if there are any descendants of these families out there that may have information, please contact me.

Thank you!