This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/0AC.2ACE/148.156 Message Board Post: Here's my guess: I think "overseer" had to do with county roads. In that era, able-bodies male residents were expected and required to pitch in to repair roads in the vicinity of where they lived. The county overseer would make sure it got done, and if the job was not being done, then residents would be called before the county commissioners' court to give an account and they could be fined or whatever. I think each man had to work only one or two days a month. Can someone confirm or deny? Mary on the otherside