Many of you probably are aware of the following tidbits but some are new to me so I'm sure some will be new to others in our group. Nothing new but interesting. According to "Men of Matadequin", June Banks Evans, Bryn Ffyliaid Publications, 1985..... 1707/8...at that time women did not hold title to land in their own name. At the wife's death land would revert either to a male heir or become crown property to be reassigned. Land could not be distributed to heirs until the youngest child came of age. 1706 part of St Peter's was divided, the portion above the mouth of Matadequin Creek becoming St. Paul's. A 1689 list of landholders in New Kent Count shows no Via's. Steph Moon, Nic Gentry, Rouland Horsley, Robt Lancaster, James Blackwell, Robt Thomson, Edw Burnett, Jno Talle are listed in this list...no Via's. (SO WHERE WAS AMER VIA IN 1689???) I have often wondered why William Via did not show up in the processioning records of St. Paul's Parish until 1731. Maybe the above info regarding land not being distributed until the youngest child came of age had some bearing on this issue. This would also account for the entries we often see in things like personal property or land tax records that for years say "estate of". This would tend to indicate then that there were children not of age. Judy