If he wasn't taxed on any sheep, he probably wasn't weaving wool, because he would have needed a fair number to make it worthwhile.  I have ancestors who worked with flax in Chester County, and so that may have been more likely. Jane http://www.hootowlhollow.com http://www.hootowlhollow.blogspot.com   --- On Fri, 9/11/09, Dora Smith <[email protected]> wrote: From: Dora Smith <[email protected]> Subject: [PaOldC] Would a London Britain township weaver have woven linen? To: [email protected] Date: Friday, September 11, 2009, 1:41 PM My three times great grandfather, JOhn Smith, lived in London Britain township in southeastern Chester County.  He bought his property in 1798, and lost it in 1834 after the New Garden textile mills opened.    He was a small time weaver.   He owned 29 acres, and was taxed on a loom, a horse, a cow, and a dog, and possibly a wagon.   The family history says the family divided their labor between the loom and the plow.   He came from Ireland around 1789, and he was a staunchly committed Presbyterian. What would John Smith have woven?   Did people grow flax in southeastern Chester County/ White Clay Creek area?   Or would John Smith have mostly woven wool?    Was it possible to weave linen and wool with the same loom?   John Smith did not own two looms.    Is there any local historian I could ask? Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX [email protected] ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message