Annette, John wrote his will in 1702 and it was proven in 1703. John Jr. was bapt Feb. 1703/4. I still believe John, Jr. was born after his father died. Another thing, the land was listed in Talbot Co. In his will and the 1733 census it is in Kent Co ? Talbot Co is part of Kent Co. Leathel, CALENDAR OF WILL, Vol 3 John Bowles Talbot County 11 Jan 1702, proven Aug 1703 Calendar Switch and Double Dates Beginning in 45 B.C., many parts of the world used the Julian calendar to mark the passage of time. By the Julian calendar, March 25 was the first day of the year and each year was 365 days and 6 hours long. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII determined that the Julian calendar was incorrect: each day was just a little bit too long and the human calendar wasn't keeping up with nature's calendar. To solve the problem, Pope Gregory XIII created what is known as the Gregorian calendar. This new calendar changed the first day of the year to January 1 and also jumped ahead by 10 days to make up for the lost time. The practice of double dating resulted from the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Not all countries and people accepted this new calendar at the same time. England and the American colonies didn't officially accept it until 1752. Before that date, the government observed March 25 as the first of the year, but most of the population observed January 1 as the first of the year. For this reason, many people wrote dates falling between January 1 and March 25 with both years, as in the following examples. Julian or Old Style Gregorian or New Style Double Date December 25, 1718 December 25, 1718 December 25, 1718 January 1, 1718 January 1, 1719 January 1, 1718/19 February 2, 1718 February 2, 1719 February 2, 1718/19 March 20, 1718 March 20, 1719 March 20, 1718/19 March 25, 1719 March 25, 1719 March 25, 1719 By the time England and the colonies adopted the new calendar, the discrepancy between the calendars was eleven days. To resolve the discrepancy, the government ordered that September 2, 1752 be followed by September 14, 1752. Some people also added 11 days to their birth dates (a fact which is not noted on their birth certificates). You should also watch for dates that are recorded as double dates even after all calendars had officially switched. People sometimes accidentally wrote double dates.