In Yell Co. Ark, A woman owned land, because she was an only child of that father, and he left the land to her. That was in the late 1800's, its another way a woman got land in her name. So if Elizabeth's father was in the area, he may have got some land and signed it over to her, if her father wasn't in the area, you might want to check who they knew (friends) or other family members in the area, someone else may have helped her get the land, and knew her and not him. -----Original Message----- From: Ken l Ford [mailto:ksford2@juno.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 9:15 PM To: AGS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [AGS] Land patents Hi everyone, thanks for all the ideas and suggestions! My couple (Mathew and Elizabeth Summerville/Sommerville) were about 25 when the land was purchased, and Mathew seemed to be an upstanding citizen, as I have found records that he was granted guardianship over a child during that time. Mathew was later taken by the Union army, held in prison, where he died. He is buried at Jefferson Barracks. In all the records he is listed as "citizen from Lawrence County". At the time of his death, in 1864, he was 39. Age and frailty doesn't *seem* to be a reason not to own land, but.... Please keep throwing out suggestions, I welcome things to keep my brain going. Thanks! :) Shantell Ford ________________________________________________________________ Speed up your surfing with Juno SpeedBand. Now includes pop-up blocker! Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com/surf to sign up today! ==== AGS Mailing List ==== Please do not forward or cross post messages to this list or from this list without the permission of the original author.