Hello List, This seems like a good time to get this onto the list and into the list archives. Joseph MARVEL of Nanticoke Hundred, also left land to his brother Phillip, in his 1786 will. >>To brother Phillip Marvel - a tract called Spicers Purchase containing 50 acres. Also my plantation and dwelling house and a tract of 13 acres that my father bought of Robert Moody. Also a tract called Wrankins Beginning containing 181 acres. << I recently found the deed where Joseph MARVEL purchased the tract "Spicers Purchase" in Worcester County, MD land records. 6 Aug 1771 John CONWAY sold "Spicers Purchase" to Joseph MARVEL, 43 3/4 acres, cost was 18 pounds. Spicers Purchase was near the head of Raccoon Swamp on the side of a road that leads from Indian River to Gravelly Branch. (present day Sussex Co., DE) A Robert MARVEL bought the tract called "Lynn", 13 acres in 1762 from Robert MOODY. I assume that Joseph Marvel was at least 21 years old when he bought Spicer's Purchase in 1771. That would give him a birthdate of 1750 or before. His father, Robert MARVEL, is supposed to have been born in 1737 as presented in most Marvel genealogies. This would mean that Robert Marvel was 13 when he fathered Joseph Marvel. Not likely. I think that the Robert MARVEL who appears in the Somerset Tax lists in 1739 as a dependent in the household of Paris CHIPMAN of Nanticoke Hundred and has an approximate birth date of 1720, is a much more likely candidate as Joseph's father. Robert MARVEL first appears in the Somerset Tax lists in 1736 in the household of Thomas MARVILL. The birthdates of the children of Thomas MARVEL and Elizabeth HUGGINS are in the Stepney Parish records and they do not match the Marvels in the Somerset tax list. The names match but not the dates. How reliable are the birth dates in the Stepney Parish records? Has anyone been able to prove any substantial inaccuracies? I know that the early dates were recorded years after the occurence. That does raise suspicions and makes me think I should view Stepney Parish records more like a bible record. At least in the earlier years. Nanette **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)