Incidentally, VA abolished entails in 1776, thus thwarting the last of the efforts (legal devices) used to dodge the law that declared that land devised or conveyed to women became that of their husbands (NY, even before then, as I recall). Paul

My ancestor was in TN in the early 1800 , and the only land records available for that county are "Land Entry Book" and "Deeds of Bargain and Sale". The Land Entries start with his name, certificate or warrant #, description of the land .etc and then signed by him as Locater.Does this mean that he was a surveyor by profession, or only for his own land ? Shouldn't there be a book that records the deeds, or was the entry the final ownership ? I had hoped the deeds would give me the name of his wife, but none were signed by her although I know she was alive when the sales were made. I finally caught up with him in SC, where I did find three deeds where she relinquished her dower rights , but not on any of the other deeds. I concluded that the deeds she signed were for land she had inherited from her father. Am I right in assuming this ?Marietta > > > > ==