I have just finished looking at early tax records for John Cooke and believe I see a quandary. I don't believe John Cooke moved but remained n the same location. The 1800 CENSUS indicates "CHARTIERS" The 1801-1809 TAXES indicate "CHARTIERS" The 1810 CENSUS indicates "STRABANE" and then it continues on as South Strabane. Was Chartiers Creek a dividing line? Did it move course?? Appreciate any help.

I'm sick but I'll try to make a reply. I don't believe Chartiers Creek changed its course. Typically, a Twp was carved out of a larger existing twp. For example, Amwell Twp on the south side of The National Pike was split around the same time into West and East Bethlehem Twps. Staban (no e) was the original Twp in the north side of The National Pike, from Rt 40 to Canonsburg. On the early Census records it is Straban (no e). Straban was split into North and South Stabane (with an e). As far as citizens and residences, it rarely made a difference -- meaning, the person did not "move", just the name of the twp changed. The biggest factor for whether the resident/citizen/family was more affected was if their land or lands were on or crossed the division boundaries between the "new" townships. For example, Joseph Baker lived in the original Amwell Twp -- in about 1809 Jos Baker, wife Mary, son Phillip & wife, and John Lane Sr & wife (Jos's daughter Catherine) and all the kids moved from Maryland to Amwell Twp and lived on property that extended from The National Pike at Rt 519 S & the Road to Glyde, extending down the Road to Glyde on both sides of the road, and as well East along The National Pike up Egg Nogg Hill (the hill right above 519 S on Rt 40) almost to the next first road on the right off Rt 40. John Lane Sr made an attempt to buy part of Jos. Baker's land in Anwell--but before Lane finished the buy, Jos. Baker died in 1815. Lane then made a deal with the son, Phillip Baker, to buy the same piece from Jos. Baker's estate--- but before Lane could finish paying, Phillip Baker died 1816. So again, Lane lost that piece in Amwell Twp. Then, Lane buys in 1822 a piece that was an original patent of John Haines whose land was right against the original Baker property. So John Lane Sr. lived in Amwell Twp. Then, Anwell was split. So John Lane is suddenly "living in" West Bethlehem Twp. But he did not "move"-- the twp name changed from the split of Amwell Twp to East and West Bethlehem Twp. So, a family living on a farm in "Straban" could suddenly be in North or South Stabane simply because the twp lines and names were changed, If you really want to be sure about your ancestor, get his earliest deed and "follow it" up through the years. Write each down, with the year bought-sold. Next to each deed/year bought, put the twp name (usually given in the deed; or use the twp creation list for those dates). Follow the deeds up to 1950 when aerial maps were made. Then get land owner maps from the Law Library that show basic land shapes -- think one is 1870s and 1911 Farm Map. Try to match your ancestor's land shape to one on the other maps. In your ancestor's deeds, list the neighbors from the mets & bounds descriptions. Find those neighbors on labeled maps--- some will likely still be in same families. Once you can pinpoint the location of your ancestor's land, notice creeks, roads, railroad lines---anything that provides unchanging landmarks. (Roads were sometimes moved right or left, but most kept same paths.) Then, get the 1950 aerial map of that area (all you need is a way to identify the area, like "from Rt 519 to Canonsburg, north to __" or whatever. The aerials are at the Tax Planning office -- oversized maps for under $10.00. They will mail them. Again, look at the aerial for your ancestor's basic land shapes. Aerials even show how plowing and fencelines almost "permanently" marked out property shapes. So it's fairly easy to see a property---if you've identified the basic shape first. Also, you can track your ancestor's NEIGHBOR'S lands -- to get THEIR shapes -- which helps to narrow down which one is yours on a map. Once you know the location, the nearest roads, and other landmarks, then you can place those against the known twp boundaries. Also, you can look in Road Petitions to see who asked for new "early" roads to see what roads were near your ancestor's land(s). You're going to find your ancestors are still in North OR South Strabane -- or that they actually moved somewhere else. There is a way to draw mets & bounds from deeds, but I filed those instructions away and can't get to them right now. Hope something in this helps, Judy On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 2:52 PM, DARWIN LOLA WEBER <[email protected]>wrote: > I have just finished looking at early tax records for John Cooke and > believe I see a quandary. I don't believe John Cooke moved but remained n > the same location. > > > The 1800 CENSUS indicates "CHARTIERS" > > The 1801-1809 TAXES indicate "CHARTIERS" > > The 1810 CENSUS indicates "STRABANE" and then it continues on as South > Strabane. > > Was Chartiers Creek a dividing line? Did it move course?? > > Appreciate any help. > > > >