Steve, In the process of trying to make sense of the hodgepodge of land holding patterns in the Saratoga Tax District of Albany County, NY between 1764 and 1777, I found it necessary to attempt to become fluent in Roman/Dutch legalese. It would appear that more than a century after the Dutch had lost the Province of New York as a colony, that Roman/Dutch legal conventions were still in full force and effect among the ethnic Dutch. Leslie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Brewer" <slbrewer@fuse.net> To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 7:47 AM Subject: Re: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Land Record term > Leslie, > > Thanks. This is very interesting. I wouldn't have thought to look to > Roman/Dutch law for the answer. > > Steve > > -----Original Message----- > From: dutch-colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:dutch-colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Leslie B. > Potter > Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 2:16 PM > To: dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Land Record term > > Gentlemen: > > I finally found a moment to dragged out my books on Roman/Dutch law. I > am > inclined to suspect that the "free drop on both sides" has to do with a > type > of "Servitude" in Roman Dutch law, which deals specifically with > handling > water and run-off in an urban setting. (Please see Urban servitude # 5) > > However, I'll let you read all of the material on servitudes and judge > for > yourselves. So for what it is worth, this is what I found on > "Servitudes" in > R. W. Lee's An Introduction to Roman/Dutch Law page 164 to 169. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message