This page and links (see above) to the other pages in this section of my web site comprise just a few aspects of my original research on my maternal Bilberry and Bilbrey ancestors. I began this research in the fall of 1994, but I only began posting these pages in December 2002. My original research posted on these pages is based on historical records, not on things I have collected from other sources such as oral family history, published family sketches, email from cousins, web sites, or other published or contributed written materials in the 20th and 21st centuries. This site will contain some electronic materials that are either modern indexes or enumeratations of historical documents, but I have limited this type of material to maintain a high degree of data integrety.

The links to my original research do not include interpretations of the data, which can be subjective and prone to error. I leave it to the reader to interpret the data posted here as it may apply to their family or their research interests. I, of course, have my own opinions and interpretations but that type of information is not posted here. In many cases, I have abstracted or copied or photocopied records for many families in tax lists, census and land deeds, some may be cousin lines and perhaps some may not actually be part of my extended Bilberry and Bilbrey families. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free software package, to view and print many of the abstracted records that are part of my collected works.Few family histories are not guided by prior research efforts. I am indebted to Richard Bilbrey of Elida, Ohio USA for his letters and advice in the mid 1990's and to his collaborator Vicky Hempkins of Denison, Texas USA. Richard Bilbrey was Mr. Eldridge's collaborator on the book mentioned below. I also thank Don Goodman of Fort Worth, Texas, USA for access to his extensive Bilbrey genealogical database[1]. I am also indebted to Charles S. Eldridge for his book History Tennessee My People and Me, © 1991 [2] and for several letters from him regarding my branch of the Bilbrey/Bilberry family. According to the copyright page of this book, correspondence about the Eldridge book should be directed to Charles S. Eldridge, 1106 Beaumont Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45410.

For information on my particular branch of the Bilberrys and Bilbreys from the 1890's to the 1950's, I am most indebted to my cousin Claudine Bilbrey Robison who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, USA — it only took me three years to find her living just about two miles from me. Her mother, who died at age 103 in the mid 1990's, made extensive notes on her husband's family, and these notes were clues to where and when to look for historical records in Texas, USA for my Bilbrey/Bilberry family. Claudia Riordon had a lot of information on my great-grandfather James Clinton Bilbrey from his first marriage, and her information and pictures are greatly appreciated. I also thank my mother's sister Betty Poe for access to the pictures that belonged to her mother and brother, both of whom are now deceased.

By the time of the 1850 Federal Census of United States was taken, there were some 26 Bilbrey and Bilberry families (and a couple of other variant spellings of the family name) in Overton Co., TN.

My branch of the Bilberry and Bibrey families were in Overton Co., TN in the 1850 census, but by 1855, my branch of the family had already migrated to Texas.

Reference notes:

1. This database did contain several errors regarding my branch of the Bilbrey and Bilberry families.
2. This book contains 491 pages. The Bilbrey family history section begins on p. 70 and concludes on page 179. There are a number of black and white photos, most from the 1890's to the 1930's. The book does not have an index.

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