HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com HALL DNA project: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/hall/HDNAtest.htm "One of the tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a brutal gang of facts" - La Rochefoucauld Martha, Colonial law was incredibly different than it is today. Pre-revolution followed the laws of primogeniture which controlled how and to whom the estate passed. I do know that if a man died intestate with a wife but no heirs, his land reverted to his father. If the father was dead, then to his eldest living brother. The widow got 1/3 but she did not own it and upon her death her land was passed on based on these laws. She had no say-so. Even leaving a will could cause problems and that was the case with Dorothy. If the widow felt what was left to her was not a full 1/3, she could contest the will. That is what Dorothy did and asked that Josiah be her POA to represent her interests. But if Josiah had been her son, he stood to inherit, too. It would be considered a conflict of interest for him to fight for a larger share for his mother that would obviously decrease what he would receive. Unless one fully understands primogeniture, I can tell you that mistakes in connections are going to be made. I remember a discussion about a record where "John" came to court with witnesses who confirmed he was the heir of "William." Every tree I saw on this family had John as William's son and everyone had run into a brick wall with no one knowing why. No one seemed to recognize they were in "primogeniture" era and that this young William had died in the Rev War without a will and without heirs. John was his heir as his eldest brother [the father being dead], NOT as Wm's son. In your mother's case, I will assume she was not in an estate battle contesting your father's will. So your being the POA would not have been a conflict. James Maloney sent me these primogeniture laws of succession and I'll be glad to send it to anyone interested. Learning more about colonial law is really a must and primogeniture is very important if you hope to make proper connections. Hope I've de-confused you, Martha! Does it make sense? Nel