I have been studying families in McMinn County for about five years. My direct family lines include CULTON, WEIR, WEAR, THOMPSON and WILSON. I have information on collateral lines including BARNETT, BURK, GRIGSBY, SHERRILL, and ELLIS. Some of these folks stayed in McMinn County, but there was a migration to southwest Missouri (Barry / Stone Counties) in 1851-2. It included almost all of these families.