Well, just my 2 cents worth, I'm inclined to agree, that the answers ly somewhere that we'd not suspect and KY is an under researched area for Coats/Coates...had it not been for John Bakers Rev War dec, I probably would never have done any research there...but also remember it was John Coats I believe that had done a power of attorney for someone in Chester County SC, so I know there was some connection to KY for them...the Tax records really made the connection clearer and also there is a John Coats in Logan County KY later than my group and I suspect he is the same John Coats that did the Power of attorney in Chester County SC...but once again, the DNA testing is by far the best way to make that initial connection and then put the paper together... I am however, not real pleased with FTDNA since, there was a geneists from China doing DNA testing of the entire genome at no cost to the participant, excuse the spelling of those, but FTDNA from what I've heard got rather upset with him, when he started contacting folks out of their public database for further DNA testing...the guy in China was trying to close a gap in the Haplo W group...at any rate, he quit contacting folks....seems to me, it should be the choice of the participant whether or not they want to do further research, not FTDNA....'nough said....:) Back to your thoughts....the south part of north Carolina and the north part of south Carolina border was also in dispute in those early days, ...and yes, the back country folks were not real pro government...but in a lot of cases, they owned land, so in those early days, that is really one of the best sources for info, likewise tax records, the government always wanted their share....:) and in SC most deeds in those early days had to be filed in Charleston...well that was quit a ride from the back country, so in some cases, the deeds may not have gotten filed....or in those early days, the early deed was filed in another state or county, which then later had a border change. Or they lived in an unsettled area and they had no deed, that by the way is what a pre-emption coverd, they settled the land but got the deed later...Now John Baker also mentions in his dec that he lived along the *Poe River* for quite a few years, that being a River in KY as well, although I think today it's spelled differently....I might also mention that there are Baker records in Logan County KY that also indicate several directions a Baker line could go, with no clues as to which way....another controversy in the Baker family...so the only thing you can really do is leave it open until further research is done.... And last but not least the old research in a lot of cases has muddied the waters, when the records really could support several different directions....early researchers made a lot of guesses and lumped a lot of folks together ..... Char On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:14 PM, John Coats <jwcoats@htc.net> wrote: > Maybe we can use this to our advantage in finding James Robert's parents. I > paid $24 for this dang book, State Boundaries of America, by Tegan and Jerry > Hansen. " 1729 is used when 7 of 8 of the Proprietor Heirs selling out, > ownership thus reverting back to the King, and each Carolina became a > separate Royal Charter. State Boundaries entries show the state and each > year a significant development occured: for example, Virginia (1606, 1609, > 1665, 1776, 1784, _1788_, and 1862." So, the state lines were obviously > blurred. Just as in our county, all the lot lines are off by 3 to 5 feet, > because they were surveyed with rod and chain before a certain date. > Nowadays new subdivisions are done by GPS, or lazer my attorney tells me. > Here is NC, SC. > NC 1663, 1665, 1729, 1760s, _1789_. SC 1663, 1729, > 1760s, 1787, _1788_. > _"A Virtual Museum of Surveying_ article aptly describes the lack of > documentation during the 1700s" "Using some markers from 1815 the modern > boundary is described and recorded in _1996_." The book also mentions how > the people in the "back country" really resented governmental intrusion into > their private lives. They wanted to be isolated, and probably didn't really > know which state they were in. In the 2000 census my wife and I only gave > our name, age, and occupation. We will do the same this year. > Now to KY-TN. KY 1776, _1792_, 1820. TN 1789, 1790, _1796_ 1820. "1820 > Interstate Compromise." " A long running dispute was finally settled by use > of the "Walker Line" east of the Tennessee River and true 36degree 30' to > the west." With this agreement, the State Line was moved 13 miles to the > South. So I think our James Robert may have lived in that area that became > part of Kentucky when they first moved to Robertson Cty. TN. Hope y'all > find this interesting. There are a bunch of hot links listed in the back of > the book, but I'm done for today. > -- A shameless plug for my web activities: Support Authentic Cherokee Art - look for the Cherokee Authentication tag - that insures they are a tribal citizen Indian Arts and Craft Act: http://nativeamericanlawus.blogspot.com Freedmen vs Cherokee Nation: http://freedmenvscherokeenation.blogspot.com/ Cherokee Basket Weaver's Association: http://cherokeebasketweaversassociation.org/ Cherokee Basket Weaving Books: http://www.lulu.com/groups/indianbasketweaving Cherokee Artists Association http://www.cherokeeartistsassociation.org Coats Archive: http://www.coatsarchive.us Pages Through Time http://www.pagesthroughtime.us