The apprenticeship of William Hatcher as a wheelwright brings forth a lot of possibilities. In the early 1700's young men went through apprenticeships to become craftsman/artisans like wheelwrights. These young men usually stated their apprenticeships at about age 15 or 16 and where indentured until they turned 21, when they became journeymen. As part of their apprenticeship they would live with the master craftsman and even have to move with them if they relocated (immigrated to the Colonies) After, becoming a journeymen they would usually work under contract to another master craftsman or someone who could hire them. They would work under contract until they could obtain the means of establishing their own business. For our William Hatcher this would mean that if he was born about 1700 than he was still an apprentice when he witnessed the Rakestraw will in 1718. We know that by 1724 he was recognized as a wheelwright and was paying taxes as a land/business owner. If we could find any apprenticeship records or even determine the name of his master craftsmen, we would gain a lot of new information about William. Apprentice indentures/contracts usually contain the name of the master craftsmen and the parents/guardian of the young apprentice. Apprenticeships in England were controlled by craft guilds; however, there were few guilds in the early colonies so apprenticeships had less formal control. The craftsmen in the colonies did carry with them the apprenticeship traditions of England and most of what I have read indicates similar terms of indenture. I think that there are three possible scenarios for Williams's apprenticeship: 1. He apprenticed under his father or another relative. These may not have involved an indenture contract; however, he would have still had to meet a journeymen level of skill before he would have been considered a wheelwright. Somewhere (in Dorset or the Colonies) there should be a record of another Hatcher wheelwright or another relative who would have been the master craftsmen. 2. He was indentured under contract by his parents or guardian to a master craftsman as an apprentice. Families would even pay for the most desirable apprenticeships, like that of wheelwright. Again, there should be some record of this contract. 3. He was placed into an apprenticeship as an orphan. In the late 1600's and early 1700's about one-third of all orphaned boys were placed into apprenticeships by orphanages or church parishes. In this case he may have been apprenticed at a young age and would have worked in some other capacity until his actual wheelwright apprenticeship began at about age 15. Keep searching, Gary

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 Gary, I don't disagree at all on the Thatcher situation. No connection. My only remaining question was whether Joseph was a Thatcher or Hatcher. While it doesn't appear that this land was originally part of Richard Thatcher's property, it does seem possible that Joseph Thatcher may simply have purchased it from Jeremiah Dungan. I'm also having a bit of difficulty following the 1726 deed but it looks to me as if Joseph owned 34A but Wm is selling only 10A. I can't tell whether the entire 34A was turned over to Wm by poll deed or just the 10A that Wm is selling. If anyone wants to read this deed and express an opinion, it's at http://hatcherfamilyassn.com/getperson.php?personID=I3219&tree=QHatch But Gary did say something that I had been thinking about yesterday. Here we have a young man who, by all appearances, was not a Quaker yet living in the middle of them. So how did he end up there? Since we know he had to be quite young, I had thought that he came over as so many did.....as a servant connected to some family....or in Wm's case, as a young wheelwright perhaps still under apprenticeship as Gary explained. He was too young in 1718 (as far as we know) to own land so he must have been living with some family. And if that's the case, we go back to his witnessing the Rakestraw will in 1718. Who witnesses wills? Your neighbors. So how was Wm a neighbor? Because he lived with 1) Wm Rakestraw whose dau was Grace Rakestraw ZANE 2) Witness Tobias Nilee (a unique name not found in any other records) 3) Witness John Cadwalader Having read up on John Cadwalader and his history, he appears to be well documented directly to Wales. He was also a man involved frequently in estate processing, often as an administrator, witness or involved in the taking of inventory. But being from Wales would seem to eliminate him as the holder of Wm's apprenticeship. (I don't even want to go there :-) SOOOO! By process of elimination, we have Wm Rakestraw as his sponsor, whose dau also has a connection to the Zane family. I think it's time to find out more about Rakestraw, particularly where he came from and when he arrived here. Ray - can you see what you can find on Wm Rakestraw pre-1718? Ed - put him on your list, too. Let the research continue........and many thanks, Gary, for your input. I think it's dead on. Nel

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 Well, phooey! If Wm Rakestraw brought anyone over, it wasn't our Wm. William and family arrived in America by 1685 as John Moll of the town of New Castle deeded William Rakestraw, late of Oxfordshire in the Kingdom of England, a parcel of land on the west side of the Delaware River high into the upper end of Bread & Cheese Island and on the north side of White Clay Creek which divideth this from the land of John Edmunds. (21 April 1685: Recorder of Deeds, New Castle County, Wilmington, Delaware) Nel