Hello May I ask a question to the listers. In the Baltimore, Maryland Tax Records Index 1798 - 1808, a Capt. Amos Fisher is listed. I know from the journal written by my ggg-grandfather Joseph Fisher, Jr., that this Amos Fisher died at sea near the Virginia shore when the ship he was a captain of went down. He lived at Fells-Point, Baltimore, Maryland. He was of a Quaker family, originally from Bucks Co., Pa. He was called in the journal a "trader", meaning merchant mariner, I suppose. How would one get the designation "Captain". Would one have to have served with the military or were merchant mariners given that title, also? Kate Ross ____________________________________________________________________________________ Low, Low, Low Rates! Check out Yahoo! Messenger's cheap PC-to-Phone call rates (http://voice.yahoo.com)