Marla stated: >I have an ancestor , James B. Meredith, who entered 200 ac in Surry Co >on Pheasant Br; Border; James Downey. Jan 13, 1795. I believe that he >was born in 1765. This would make him twenty years old. Is this an >age appropiate at this time for entering land? Also does enter land >mean buying land or maybe inheriting land? Either you mistyped one of the dates, or misfugured, as he would have been about age 30 in 1795 if born 1765. "Entered" means that he placed with the land office a loose description of the 200 acres on which he wanted to acquire a grant. If he followed through, there would have been a warrant issued to the surveyor to survey the land, the survey of the land, and finally a grant. In some cases the entry could be abandoned by the person, or they could sell the warrant to another person that could be the person that eventually acquired the grant. Rick Saunders http://genealogyPro.com/fsaunders.html