Divining Rod , I used them many times, was quite good at it, for a piece of wood, must be the right kind, to find water. That was my first thought but it seems that I have seen or heard that word somewhere besides here. Keep digging. AND those Rods were passed down in family DAD had his Grgrandfathers. Water was important.. I do not find a farmer having a dictionary odd, remember a farmer may not have been farmer before family came to US. Especially if he also had books.. I remember when researching in Greene Co PA a searcher said, I am looking for Mr. Gallentine the Senator, That man is a farmer, he can not be whom I am looking for. Well, it was who they were looking for, in those days they still had to earn a living. SusiCP