Viles Name Study - Introduction

This is my first entry in my Viles Name Study blog.  I started the One Name Study a few months ago, but I haven't made much systematic progress. I seem to take off on tangents, without much focus.  If it has something to do with the Viles surname, I do it.  I need to plan my study.

What I Know

Most Viles are Caucasian.  I know of a number of similar names that may. or may not, be related: Viels, Viles, Vials, Vilas.

USA

There seems to have been at least two influxes of Viles in the USA, one to Massachusetts and the other in the South, probably Georgia.  My initial research about Viles in the USA shows that, in 1790, there were only 4 Viles families recorded on the 1790 US Census. In 1840, the Viles name was seen mostly in Massachusetts, Maine, Indiana and Illinois, with smaller concentrations in New York, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia and Tennessee.

There was a spike in immigration of Viles in the middle 1850s and a small spike in about 1890.  There were 56 Viles who served in the US Civil War, mostly on the Union side.

By 1880, Missouri was ahead of both Indiana and Illinois, and in 1920, Viles were mainly in Massachusetts, Maine, Tennessee and Missouri.

England
In 1891, 21% of the Viles in England lived in London.  Others were concentrated in Essex, Somerset, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Glamorgan (Wales).

Australia and New Zealand
There are also a lot of Viles in New Zealand, mainly in the Manawatu-Wanganui.  In Australia, they are mostly in New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Australia.

How I Have Been Working So Far

I started by adopting the orphaned Viles profiles on WikiTree.  I already was manager of many of the Viles profiles through my own research.  I have been going through the profiles one at a time.  I try to complete the following steps for each one:

1. add correct birth and death dates
2. add birth place and assign each profile to a state and, if possible, to a county
3. add burial place and a picture of the gravestone, if possible
4. attach each person to parents

I have also started working on veterans.  I find American veterans by using the National Gravesite locator.  I also use lists of an veterans on FamilySearch, Ancestry.  For Viles from other places, I use the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and military records on FamilySearch, Ancestry, and FindMyPast.

1. establish profiles for veterans, starting with earlier wars.
2. follow steps 1-4 above 

I have also been establishing new profiles for people I discover from obituaries.

In other words, my research is all over the board, with no goals and no focus.  I need to change my methods, as I cannot tell when I have completed a task.  I also cannot draw any conclusions from what I am doing.


Tomorrow I will try to draft a One Name Study Plan.