Research on the southern Liles families has been performed for over 30 years. Many of these lines have been documented back to Virginia and to several counties in Tidewater Virginia. The earliest documented Liles (Lisle) of this project administrator is John Liles (Lisle), born c. 1695, probably in Virginia. This ancestor moved from Henrico County to Prince George County and then into North Carolina before William Byrd walked and established the Virginia - North Carolina line in 1728. At least three of his sons migrated into the South Carolina upcountry, two by 1755, establishing Liles Ford there on the Broad River. After the American Revolution several of the Liles lines migrated from South Carolina into Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana. Other 1600s Tidewater Virginia Liles (Lisle) men have been identified in James City County, Charles City County, New Kent County, Hanover County, Nansemond County (no longer extant), Surry County, Isle of Wight County and Stafford County.