Greetings. I subscribed to this list in order to ask this question on behalf of a friend. She has an 1808 volume DICTIONARY OF THE HOLY BIBLE, in which some birth data is written into the back. It appears to have an entry, "John Scott was born County LnDerry upon 8 May 1768," -- except the n (if that's what it is) hovers high near the top of the L rather than on the line. My friend feels that the word following Derry may not be "upon," because that word is not used in the other entries and because the p looks more like the writer's "y's" than a p. She wonders if it might be some other word. I gather that the usage of Derry and Londonderry has some sort of implications today, but I'm not sure what that is. What was the usage of "Derry" and "L'Derry" back at that time? Would that be a typical abreviation? Rev. John Scott was born there in 1768 and moved to America, going through Philadelphia and settling at Ghent, Kentucky, were he was a prominent Baptist minister and landowner. I don't know at what age he arrived in America, or how familiar he would have been with typical usage of the abreviation. If anyone want to give the entry a look, I have an image file I could send them. It doesn't capture the whole page but it shows the words in question. My friend is a descendant of John Scott, and would like to know more about his orgins. The only other clue about his background is that he named one of his sons "William Alfred Scott," which she thought might be a name in the family. He named other sons for Kentucky Baptist ministers. Bill Davis [email protected] ************************************************************* * * Fax (978)334-7850 * P.O. Box 337 * Ghent * KY * 41045 * * *************************************************************