A bit of help, please, on [[Midkiff-24|Thomas Midkiff]] from a Wikitree guru.

Question

Howdy!  I'm working on my tree and have come to a crossroads.  Since at least 1999 I've seen a whole bunch of internet family trees (various websites, from Ancestry to Geni to whatever) that list Thomas Midkiff as the father of [Midkiff-17|John Midkiff]].  To date, these trees have all been unsourced.  This doesn't mean there's not a good source, but I don't know what that is!

Over the years, some of the kin and I have come to believe a strong case can be made for John's father being a gentleman named Joseph Midkiff, Jr., who sold land to John and his presumed brothers James and Joseph, Jr.  

I don't want to make an error here that will mess things up for another 20 years.  I'd be thrilled if someone who has really good skills might do a quick search of this Thomas Midkiff on Ancestry or elsewhere (I don't subscribe) and see if he's there, and sourced.  You would be my hero!

Thanks.

Comments

I think it would be a good idea to put both theories in the notes since the information is still circulating on the web, whichever one you decide. But yes, some of the work of genealogy is finding the origin of what other people have published over the years.

This doesn't look like the right branch but they are Pittsylvania Mitcaffs so I am adding it here nonetheless.

You can find a lot of leads searching FamilySearch's library catalog.

Edit -- they are not letting me link to the book but there is a book of Pittsylvania Midkiffs available to read on the web at the catalog if you search for it.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&query=%2Bauthor_id%3A821844

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Do either of the prospective fathers have a Will? If so, what children are named?

Answer 1

Name:	John Midkiff
Spouse:	Mary Parsons
Marriage Date:	10 Sep 1782
Marriage Location:	Pittsylvania County, Virginia Source Information Dodd, Jordan. Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.

Answer 2

Have you checked the land records?

Here's the grantor index:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PF-49G1?cat=415497

and the grantee index:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-G8F?i=62&cat=415497

You can then use those indexes to locate the deeds themselves in the images here:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/415497?availability=Family%20History%20Library

See also the spellings Midciff, Medciff, and Madkiff.

It looks like the probate records for the county are locked behind a key symbol, but when the Family History Centers open back up, it might be worth your time to head to one and look for wills.