John On checking back through the transcription I have on file I note that at the time we did in fact read the ?ybbs word in line 5 on page 2 as jybbs: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oel/unsolved46.html We thought it might mean a gib or gibb, which is an obsolete word for an iron hook or a pot hook. The initial letter does also look a bit like an F or an S. If the word was fybbs what do you think it might mean? Debbie