b. circa 1811, d. after 1870
| BirthCirca | circa 1811 | Margaret Ryburn was born in Indiana circa 1811.2 |
| Marriage | 26 Aug 1830 | She married David Nelson, son of Adam Nelson and Nancy Shirk, on 26 Aug 1830 in Franklin County, Indiana.1 |
| | Margaret and David married about a year after David's widowed mother married Margaret's widowed father. Five months after David and Margaret's marriage, David's brother Robert Nelson married Margaret's sister Ann Ryburn. |
| Land-Buy | 29 Nov 1836 | In 1835 Robert asked the Franklin County court to partition the land left to the heirs of Adam Nelson. The court decided the land could not be fairly divided and ordered that it be sold instead, with the proceeds divided among all the heirs. After 100 acres were laid off as their mother's dower, David and Robert, along with their brother Andrew purchased the remaining land and a deed was recorded.3 |
| Land-Sell | 28 Aug 1839 | On 28 Aug 1839 the three brothers and their wives sold 80 acres of the same Franklin County land to Richard Tyner for $500. The land was described as the west half of the northwest quarter of section number 9 in township 8 of range two west.4 |
| Migration | between 1839 and 1840 | In the months that followed, Margaret and David, probably accompanied by Robert and Ann, migrated to Shelby County, Missouri. |
| Cens-1840 | 1840 | There David was enumerated as the head of a household on the next federal census (with Robert Nelson heading the adjacent household). Although the 1840 census did not record the names of the other family members, hash marks in appropriate age columns are consistent with the presence of David and Margaret with 4 children (3 males and 1 female) and an unidentified 20-29 year old male.5 |
| Cens-1850 | 16 Sep 1850 | Ten years later they were enumerated in Fabius Township, Knox County, Missouri. This did not necessarily indicate that the family had moved. Knox County was not created until 1843. Its southern boundary (including at least a part of Fabius township) had been part of Shelby County until 1841 at which time it was incorporated into Scotland County from which Knox County was formed. David and Margaret were recorded in 1850 living in Fabius Township with Adam 19, Nancy 14, Robert 12, Elizabeth 7, George 5, and Sampson 1. This census includes only 3 children born between before 1840, suggesting 1 of the male children recorded on the 1840 census had either died or moved from home. As in 1840 Robert and Ann Nelson were enumerated as the adjacent household.2 |
| Cens-1860 | 1860 | In 1860 David reported that he owned land valued at $2,500 which he was farming. Robert, George, Sampson and James were still at home with David and Margaret, but son Adam was enumerated as the head of his own neighboring household.6 |
| Cens-1870 | 9 Jun 1870 | David appears to have died before June 1870 as Margaret was enumerated as the head of the family at that time. She owned land worth $9,600. Listed with Margaret was 34 year old Nancy Shanks who may have been Margaret's daughter. The names listed below Nancy all were listed with the surname Shanks, but some or all of them may have actually been Margaret's younger children.7 |
| 6 Jul 1871 | Several Ancestry.com trees report Margaret's date of death as 6 July 1871, however I have not been able to identify the source of the date. |