SERENDIPITY: There is a marvelous photo of "John Vandiver Willson and his grown children" taken circa 1900 on their homestead near Blue Ridge in Fannin Co., Georgia, on pg. 171 of the Mar-Apr 1987 issue of "The Genealogical Helper" magazine.

John Vandiver Willson came to Cherokee territory in Georgia in 1832 from Buncombe Co., NC, with his parents. His father was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher and farmer but worked in town in order to subsist. They were called river bottom farmers. John Vandiver fought in the Civil War for the north under Burnside and was wounded. John (or perhaps his father?) attempted to teach the Indians to read.

Identified in the photo are John Vandiver, Martha, David Monteville, Cordelia, William, Mary, Catherine, Thomas, Susan, John, Laura, Victoria and Sarah. No mention is made of John Vandiver's wife, but it is "Martha" who is seated next to him.

The Skellytown, TX submitter, J. T. Nichols, is the grandson of David Monteville Willson.

Hopefully, this snippet will provide just the right clue to a researcher.