Beckie-- I would like a copy of the interview please. The History of Woodford County, Kentucky by William E. Railey (I don't have the original date of publication but I believe it was from the early 1900s) mentions a Guyn family of Troy and Clover Bottom, Kentucky. This book says that the founder of this family was a Robert Guyn who came from Virginia and settled near Green's Mill. This Robert assisted in the building of Black's Fort near Troy, Kentucky. This Robert's father was also a Robert Guyn of Virginia, but that the maiden name of his (that is, Robert Jr.'s) mother and wife are "not known by the present generation." The History says that Robert Guyn, Jr. had mostly girls but also had 3 sons--Robert (the third) born in Virginia in 1774; Samuel and Moses. Robert Guyn, III, married Jane Black and died in Woodford County in 1844. Robert Guyn, III, had the following children: Robert (IV), James, John, Hugh, Andrew, Moses, William, Thomas, Harvey, Rankin, Samuel R., Jane, and Hannah. All of this information is taken from pages 80-81 of the History of Woodford County. It also says that the family name was spelled GWINN in the 1810 census. Do you think that this might be the same family? Concerning the William Preston receipt book, this was a notebook that William Preston would have carried with him to record his business transactions. Therefore, when Robert Gwin, Jr. performed the 8 days work at Fort Amherst, William Preston paid Robert Gwin, Sr. 8 shillings in full for the labor performed and recorded it in his receipt book. Robert signed the receipt "by mark" indicating that payment was made. I assume Robert, Sr. was paid because Robert, Jr. was still a minor. Note that Robert signs his name "by mark". In this case, his mark was a large, somewhat spidery "R." If anyone wants to see what this looks like, I have it on my website at http://members.aol.com/rcgwinn/home.htm The real mystery here is--where was Fort Amherst? Does anyone know? The only Fort Amherst that I know of was in Canada (named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst). Surely, this could not be it. My guess is that it is one of the local Augusta forts that was under construction to guard the frontier. If it is one of these forts, it was probably given another name after completion of the construction. Best wishes! Ron Gwinn