I would think that 34 acres would be plenty for a house and a building for a tradesman. > Burnis, > > "Are you thinking that William who married Ann Vansant had a father named > William?" > > I'm thinking it's possible, yes. I'm thinking Wm who witnessed the 1718 > will of Rakestraw was the father of Wm/Ann. I'm not seeing any clue in the > Rakestraw history that tells me Wm came over here with that family as an > apprentice wheelwright. It's quite possible our Wm learned his trade from > his father. > > One other niggly is the land purchases of Joseph and Wm/Ann. Joseph bought > in 1724, sold to Wm in 1726, and Wm sold it in 1728. Wm was not much over > 21 and I just find it difficult to see a young man coming over here as an > apprentice wheelwright and nothing else, yet earning and saving enough to > purchase land without assistance from someone......like his father? > > "Wm and Ann may have stayed in New Jersey instead of just having gone > there to get married?" > > I do think they came back if for no other reason than to sell the property > he bought from Joseph. My thinking is that the land values in NJ may have > been much cheaper than they were in the more solidly populated BucksCo > (not far from Philly). He may have been able to purchase a much larger > hunk of land in NJ than the 34A he owned in Bucks. There's not much you > can do with 34A.
HATCHER website: http://hatcherfamilyassn.com HALL DNA project: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/hall/HDNAtest.htm "If you can't stand the skeletons, stay out of the closet" - Val D Greenwood Sure, 34A would be fine but I see other factors involved here. First, he was a young man possibly competing with more experienced and older wheelwrights. A long period of skimpy employment would be very difficult with a wife and expected kids. And most tradesmen I've seen in that time period still put their faith in land ownership. If the situation was as I suggested - lower land values in NJ and a less populated area with perhaps a shortage of wheelwrights, it may have been a wise decision on his part. Nel