>Sarah A Taylor, daughter of David D Taylor and Minerva Jane VanHook, >stated that she was left property near Winston and Salem. Since she was >born in 1876-77, I would assume it was after that time. Her grandmother >(on the VanHook side was a Martha Caroline Fuller, her grandfather would >have been William R VanHook. > >How would I research this? William R VanHook died in 1858. Evidently >it took a very long time to settle the estate. I have already looked in >the county that they were living in before he died. I think I'd start with the loose estates records at the NC state archives, looking for Taylor and also VanHook in Forsyth County. These files are organized by county, and within the county, by surname. Which county were they in before he died? Did she specifically say "Winston AND Salem"? That's a clue also. These two towns weren't consolidated into the city of Winston-Salem until 1913, which might put a later limit on the transaction. For what it's worth, I don't see any mention of these people in the Forsyth Co. will abstracts (1849-1917) published by the Forsyth Co. genealogical society. Elizabeth Harris state coordinator, NCGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/