Maybe his parents sent/allowed him to migrate to North America (NA) but could not afford the cost so he was indentured to Boyd in Maryland or maybe he could not afford the cost of the trip to NA so put himself into indentureship. Is Boyd related to Cook? The town/county archives "may" have a copy of the indenture legal papers - one never knows what may be stored away in the city archives. They just may shed some light on the subject. Wish you luck with the research. At least you have place of birth to start with, I have been looking for a number of years in Ireland for some of mine but no luck so far....but never give up the ship. Bob Cdn ================ On 28/03/2010 9:30 AM, John Cook wrote: <SNIP>...Robert, first shows up as an indentured servant, in the employ of a " Mr. Boyd ", in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Everything turns upon somehow showing that the Robert, born in 1700 to John Cook and Elizabeth Ross, left Scotland, and went to America. ... ============== http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hiflyte/ *Interested in Ireland Genealogy, visit the IGP Archives.* IGP Archives Website <http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/>