Good morning, Recent posts bring up a subject on which I have been working for quite a long time. Many years ago I discovered that my ancestor, Perry or Peregrin Cole showed up in the Reconstructed 1790 Census of Delaware. In 1800, he seemed to be in Kent County, Maryland, but was back in Delaware by 1810. When I actually began to work with this family, the scenario that involved moving back and forth did not fit with what I knew about the family, which was that they seemed to have lived in the Appoquinimink Forest during all of that time. Long story short, when I began investigating the land records, I found that much of the area of the Appoquinimink was claimed by Maryland or, if not formally, claimed, at least claimed by one Marylander! It seems that the Dulany family which owned a vast tract of land which spanned the area where Queen Anne and Kent County, Maryland, meet New Castle and Kent County, Delaware. And, in fact, Daniel Dulany continued to record leases and sales of this land in Chestertown into the late 1700's even after the State Line was supposed to have been set. After his death, his nephew, Walter, finally had the Delaware part surveyed and established as being in Delaware. I believe that occurred in 1806 without looking at the actual survey. These were not the only lands which showed up in the Maryland records. In the last few weeks I have abstracted surveys and patent certificates for land along the road from Head of Sassafras to Duck Creek which are most certainly in Delaware. In addition, there are lands along what used to be called the Dog Branch of the Cypress Branch of the Chester River which are also patented in Maryland but which lie in Delaware. When I asked John Lyon (don't know if he's on this list) why it seemed as if no one was working on the families of this area, he assured me that there were descendants who were interested, but that they may not have had a clue where to look to find them. So, if you are interested in a family that you suspect may have lived in Southern New Castle County or Northern Kent County, Delaware, I would appreciate it if you would contact me. This would especially apply to those of you who might have a family that you know lived in the Appoquinimink (or Blackbird) Forest area. I may be able to help you. Cheers, Linda McDaniel