looking for roots

Hi, My name is Jeanette and I am a volunteer for IrelandXO.

Key to finding  records is to understand how and where records are/were created in each area known to be associated with your family member. The site http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html will give an overview of Irelands records, as well as give helpful guidance to research in Ireland.

If all you have is name, DOB and general area for POB, you might want to approach this quest through starting backwards & working forward. Many times historical books found at Google ebooks, (many are free) data can be found that give clues. There are quite many at Google ebooks about the Virginia colony/state/area.

A quick glance online did reveal several published genealogies for a James Wilson with your DOB and DOD details, however, I did notice a couple of ambiguities that would lead me to question all details found. Data such as Parish, County Antrim, Ireland as the place of birth (There are many Parishes both civil and religious in County Antrim) and Rockbridge indicated as the town of death, rather than as the county of death with the actual place stated, in particular.

A look at DAR reveals many records for persons by the name of James Wilson. One in particular does stand out as several items do match these published genealogy versions, while other details do not match, yet are close to what is pulished online. http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A127522 This data might be useful if for nothing else than eliminating one particular person from the list of those named James Wilson with some of the same variables in DOB, POB, DOD or POD. 

Once you start amassing small facts, try placing them in a timeline format with key words to paint a clearer picture, which usually, will lead to a better idea of where to look for more data. While you are searching look for clustering of same names for the area which might indicate familial connections. Be sure to keep a log of all search terms, results wither good or bad and the url or resource, as what may not look relevant today, could actually be  relevant in a years time. Much easier than trying to find where you saw what before. LOL!

Good Luck on your search, Jeanette