Bronya Feldmann wrote: > Well, I finally got some of my ancestor Frederick Daniel Myers' land > patent application back from the National Archives and discovered some > interesting tidbits.I knew already that he had a plantation at > Chickasabogue (where the park is now) and this was part of the land > grant for it. > > The interesting tidbits were that one of the affadavits that two > witnesses who knew him had to sign stated that he had built a house > around June 8th of 1847 and had cultivated the tract also by the time of > the application in 1848. So, now I know when he built his home. > > The second fascinating tidbit is that I believe I've discovered that he > was illiterate! The handwriting for his signed name looks exactly the > same as that of the land registrar who also signed, except it appears > that my g-g-g-grandfather has made a rough-looking "D" in the middle of > the signature. This "D" appears by every one of his signatures. At > first, I didn't get it. Then, I noticed that one of the witnesses had > made an "X" and that someone had written (his mark). Then, it hit me > about the funny "D". > > Well, it wasn't for no reason that he emigrated to this country. > > Anybody have any ancestors named John Read or Solomon Oswald living in > the county in 1848? These were his witnesses and probably neighbors. > > Bronya > Berkeley, CA > > ==== AL-MOBILEBAY Mailing List ==== > Wanna know who does what with MGS? Are you a member and are willing to > volunteer? Visit THE BOARD ROOM of the MGS Web Site at > http://www.siteone.com/clubs/mgs/board.htm Nope, no ancestors by those names, but your message did strike a chord. One of my interesting genealogical discoveries has been that of finding out that my great-grandfather was illiterate. His son--my grandfather--was a doctor, but great-grandpop himself--evidently--couldn't even sign his own name. Oh, well. I guess if that's the worst thing I uncover, I'm lucky. Pat Burchfield