Dear John (and the List): Here are two references to my 5x great grand dad, Benjamin Hitch (1738-1814), that one would think would be relatively easy to track down. John - you'll like this cuz they relates to land records, too! I have looked high and low at all the usual hiding places but to no avail. With the discussion of the "lost records" that are not really lost - of this thread - I am wondering if it might be worth my time to dive into them? Any words of wisdom as to where I might look would be most helpful (Note: I have checked extant land and court records already). This land is on the present-day Meadow Bridge Road and Ben Hitch's land is on the east side thereof - since the road straddles the Somerset/Worcester line, the majority of Ben's land was on the Worcester side. The fact that the land tract, called MOUNT PLEASANT, straddled the county line seemed to have caused issue over the years - it is located maybe about a mile or mile and a half southeast along Meadow Bridge road from where the three present day counties of Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset meet (there is a little bridge there today spanning Passerdyke Creek - the bridge that I believe was once called "meadow bridge"). Record 1 (Som Co Judicials) below indicates that judgement was granted to resurvey MOUNT PLEASANT but no survey is found (by me). Record 2 is more intriguing and calls for a survey of the county road through Ben's property but, again, I find no such follow-up records...any ideas? Records: 1. On Oct 23 1790, the court records show: "Benjm Hitch commifson & affidavits... to Gillif Polk, James Bennett, Robert Dashiell and John Harris Hayman of Somerset County Gentlemen..." commissioners agree to examine evidence on behalf of "a certain Benjamin Hitch of the County in relation to the bounds of a tract of land called Mount Pleasant." Deponents Revel Hayman "of lawful age" and William Hayman, age 22. Judgment was granted to Benjamin Hitch. (SoJ-1788/91:302, 303). 2. The following is found in the Archives of Maryland, Volume 192 , page 120 for Session Laws Nov 2 1801 to Dec 31 1801: An Act for changing part of the Divisional Road between Somerset and Worcester Counties. (Liber JG4:5). WHEREAS it is represented to this general assembly, by the petition of Benjamin Hitch, of Somerset county, that he is possessed of a tract of land lying and being in Somerset and Worcester counties, through which the divisional road of Somerset and Worcester counties now runs, to the great injury of the said Benjamin Hitch: And whereas it appears that changing the said road will be beneficial to the said Benjamin Hitch, and promote the convenience of the public; therefore, 2. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That Ebenezer Handy, James Bennett, William Pollitt of Thomas, David Cathell and Thomas Fookes, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, or any three or more of them are hereby authorized to change, lay out and open, at the expense of the said Benjamin Hitch, in the most convenient manner, a public road, leading through the lands of the said Benjamin Hitch, in the direction the divisional road of the said counties now runs, from Salisbury to Steven's Ferry, so far as the said Hitch's land extend, if necessary; and the said road, when so laid out and completed at the expense of the said Benjamin Hitch, shall be recorded in the records of Somerset and Worcester county courts, and shall be deemed and taken for ever thereafter as the divisional line of said counties, and as a public road, and shall be kept in repair as other public roads are kept up in said counties. Best to you, Mike -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:48 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LDR] Records at MSA Yep. You found your way into the hidden stacks that will never see the light of day by virtue of the quantity of such materials that actually has survived. To what end the survival, in that there's just too much to make accessible? Alas. In Somerset, this includes both deeds and court papers, maybe millions of pages (not much of an exaggeration). Some years ago on list here I discussed this "embarrrassment of riches", for which there's simply no budget even to scan (or film, in the old days). much less to index. Few of the strings or ribbons binding the bundles have ever been untied since the bundles were bundled two to three centuries ago. Some of the items, too, are not just originals of things that have been otherwise transcribed, but really unique/different, especially among the Court Papers: e.g., depositions for cases before the court, petitions, even some special sessions of County Court, other things. Unimaginable depth, but lost in plain sight, as it were. An, as you say, much is just slowly crumbling into dust in place. I think of The Dead Sea Scrolls. The problem is insoluble with finite resources. The Archives just barely has enough budget to keep its doors open, much less this. John -----Original Message----- From: Roy C. Pollitt To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 12:26 am Subject: [LDR] Records at MSA John, Your comments on that "collection" of original deeds points out something that I have mused over for years. Back in the early 1980's I "discovered" a possession of the then HofR --- a box of late 18th Century Somerset County court records ... rolled up pieces of paper each tied with ancient "string", actually some sort of cloth shoelaces is what they looked like! *************************************** QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message