Still trying to find details re these families. Does anyone know father of Maria/Mariah GILSON? Or maiden name of Rachel TRAPP of NY or CANADA? Anything more about the parents of Nancy MATTEWSON TRAPP, who was raised by her grandparents?

In case anyone else is researching these families here is what I've learned to date:
Just joining in the forum, but for a few years now I have been researching the families of John and Rachel TRAPP. who moved to Isabel Twp., Fulton Co. by 1860 (1860 Census) from Knox Co. Ohio, where they had spent a few years (1850 Census). They had come from Tomkins Co., NY.

John's family were of English origin, and, as far as I can determine, descendents of Thomas TRAPP, who sailed into Martha's Vineyard about 1659. Over the next few generations, our branches moved from that island to Connecticut and then to central and western NY. John (born c.1808, NY) like many in his family was a cooper, or barrel maker.

Rachel (last name unk.,born c. 1812) had been born in Canada, apparently, although one census does say NY. They had several children: Cordelia (1831), Oliver C.(c.1833), William (c.1835), Mary (c.1865), Erastus (c.1837), John Jr. (c.1840), Levi (c.1844), and Charles S. TRAPP (c.1855). All were born in NY, except for the youngest, Charles, who was born in OH.

Oliver, my GGGrandfather, (born c.1833, NY), married Maria (aka Mariah) GILSON (b. abt 1838, NY) on 18 AUG 1855 in Fullton Co. IL.. They had 4 Children: Fayette (c. 1856), William M 'Will' (Dec. 1859), Henry (May 1861) , and Olive Comstock (May 1863). Oliver probably never saw his baby daughter, as he enlisted in the Twenty-Eighth Regiment, Illinois volunteer Infantry, "... for services in the Union Army", in 1861. He served 3 yrs & his death which was a result of his military service, happened near Nashville, TN, as per military records. He was buried in a Union Cemetery outside Nashville.

Maria remarried (12 March 1865), a John H. BABCOCK, (est. birth 1834), from OH, and the marriage lasted long enough to produce two children: Emily "Emma"(April 1865) and Edward S. BABCOCK (April 1869), but by the 1870 CENSUS, Mr. BABCOCK was not in the household. By the 1880 Census, Maria had resumed her former name of TRAPP, although the two children retained the surname BABCOCK.

By the 1880 Census,my GGrandfather, William M. TRAPP, was still living at home in Pleasant w/ his (remarried & divorced/annulled/other ) mother, his younger brother Henry & sister Olive, plus his two young 1/2-sibs, Emily & Eddie BABCOCK. He and Henry worked as a farm laborers, while Olive worked as an apprentice seamstress. Fayette was no longer in the home, and I have not found any clues to his subsequent history.

In 10 SEP 1885 Will married Nancy MATHESON or MATHEWSON (spelling unclear), apparently in Fulton County still, IF the only plausible record I have found is actually his:
•TRAPP, WILLIAM - MATHEWSON, MAMIE 09/10/1885 FULTON Co.
The date and place are consistent with known parameters, but ....the given name "Mamie" doesn't appear anywhere else in the history or records that Ive found.

By the 1900 Census, Will had moved from Pleasant to Ipava township, become a farmer,, owned the Ipava home he was living in with wife of 14 years, Nancy A., their 2 sons: Fay, 13, & Harry, a baby less than 1 month old. Nancy was born in Aug. 1852, in IL. Her father was born in VA & her mother in IN . She and Will had also had two daughters (Laura and Blanch), but they didn't survive infancy. Fay TRAPP, my Grandfather, was in school. In 1901 a third daughter, Jennie Marie was born. There are some shadowy references to another daughter, Fanny, born in IL, but I can't find enough information to clarify that.

At some point before Feb. 1904, Will, Nancy and the three surviving children moved out of Fulton County IL to Vernon Co. Missouri as their two youngest daughters Leona Edith (16 FEB 1904) and Clara Olive (1 DEC 1905) were born there. They never moved back to Illinois.

Various others of the names mentioned here, however, continued to live in Fulton County,or nearby, married and raised families there. Some of them I have been able to follow, mostly through census or other records available on the internet, and some I lost the tracks of. What I have I am happy to share. Most of the Trapp families that I have come across in IL or OH trace back to ancestors from various German states, and are not directly related.