>From Carey Braswell and the Braswell list: From: Carey Bracewell <cbrasul@prismnet.com> Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 9:33 AM Subject: North Carolina Chain Carriers Dear Listers, A speaker at last Thursday's meeting of the Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society from the State Archives at Raleigh cited these facts about land grant chain carriers: 1) They were not legally required so many surveys were made without them. 2) Since the definition of "age of majority" changed during the land grant period, a chainbearer could be as young as 16. 3) As de facto witnesses, chain carriers were usually interested parties to the survey, either relatives and/or neighbors to the grantee. Carey and re the age of majority and age of capacity Carey, Can you tell me more about the change of the age of majority, when did it change, and was the age reduced or increased? This is something I have never gotten straight. Thank you, Marilyn Stroh Dear Marilyn, I think we need to distinguish here between "age of majority"--the age at which a person attains full legal rights, particularly civil and political rights--and the "age of capacity"--the age at which a person is legally capable of taking on certain responsibilities such as agreeing to a contract, marriage, executing a will, paying taxes, or serving as a chainbearer. "Age of majority" was 21 years in North Carolina and elsewhere until 1971 when the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the national legal voting age to 18. It is still defined as 21 in many states for other privileges. "Age of capacity" in North Carolina was 16 until it was changed in 1784 to age 21. Therefore many of the grants of confiscated Loyalist property were made to "minors" before 1784. We could all use the guidance of someone better acquainted with North Carolina statutes on this and other legal issues. Carey Thanks Carey for this useful information. Carla Tate _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp