Barbara: I truly hope it is not necessary to do a thesis to discover the information I want. And I'm sure it isn't. I'm just hoping someone on the list has the knowledge. How much unimproved land would $65 have ordinarily bought in London Britain township in 1798? And how much did a small, possibly not yet finished log cabin and maybe a shed with a farm animal or two, add to the property's value by 1799? Also, how much in real dollars was $65 in 1798, worth in 1799? Could one in 1999 by 39 acres of unimproved land, somewhere less isolated than the middle of Alaska, in a prosperous and well settled area, for $618? I think my father may have paid $50 for a half acre chunk at the end of the big field on someone's large property, on which he built, by himself, the very interesting house you'll find in my picture album at http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/tiggernut, in about 1974, and then he paid another $50 or so to add a small bit of land to it, but he was the Episcopal minister for twenty years in a tiny village, and someone gave him a break. I don't think that's what the land was worth. Let's see; $618, divided by 40 acres which John Smith bought - you're telling me, that today the land would sell for $15 an acre! Doesn't take a Ph.D. candidate -- What I want to know is, how far in land buying did $65 ordinarily go in that time and place? Did John Smith pay what the land was worth? Yours, Dora --- Barbara McCormick <bjmac@wilmington.net> wrote: > YEESH!!!! A thesis!!!!! > In 1800 $65 was worth $617.96 in 1999 money. > > Barbara > in Wilmington, NC > > Dora Smith wrote: __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/