From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Mon Apr 10 16:36:47 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k3AMahjb026444; Mon, 10 Apr 2006 16:36:43 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k3AMaN4r011065 for ; Mon, 10 Apr 2006 16:36:23 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k3AK4GFI017501 for ; Mon, 10 Apr 2006 16:04:16 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k3AK4GW1017500 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Mon, 10 Apr 2006 16:04:16 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k39MKTFI005321 for ; Sun, 9 Apr 2006 18:20:29 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k3A0qMOe024555 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Sun, 9 Apr 2006 18:52:22 -0600 X-Envelope-From: bobert@i-1.net Sun Apr 9 18:52:22 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k3A0qMjb024546 for ; Sun, 9 Apr 2006 18:52:22 -0600 Received: from saruman.api-digital.com (saruman.apid.com [63.238.52.24]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k3A0qB5i031299 for ; Sun, 9 Apr 2006 18:52:11 -0600 Received: from Desktop (dialup-4.235.78.66.Dial1.Orlando1.Level3.net [4.235.78.66]) by saruman.api-digital.com (Postfix) with SMTP id EC3057082BA for ; Sun, 9 Apr 2006 19:52:15 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <017a01c65c39$1251a670$334eeb04@Desktop> From: "bobert" To: Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2006 19:37:37 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=response Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-Spam-Score: 1.975 (*) BAYES_00,FORGED_RCVD_HELO,SUBJ_ALL_CAPS X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] LAND TRIVIA Hi, 'rooters'! I found the following on another list I sub to - thought it very interesting and informative - never heard of this 'measurement' previously. Anyway, decided to share with you all. Scrabble, anyone? Shirley: bobert@i-1.net Dear ----- : While researching my ancestry, I found a reference that a distant relative of mine once owned a "zygocephalum" of land in the late 1700's. I have looked for a definition of this term in my dictionary, but can't find one. Can you help? ANSWER: In America's early days, settlers and farmers in many parts of the country had no surefire way to determine where their property ended and a neighbor's began, because a standard method to measure real estate hadn't yet been adopted. So, they resorted to a measuring system that had been used for centuries in the countryside of Merry Olde England - - the "zygocephalum," defined as the area of land a yoke of oxen could plow in one day." This wasn't exactly the most accurate way to establish property rights, perhaps because some oxen moved faster than others (and some farmers worked harder than their neighbors). So, the zygocephalum eventually gave way to our current system of "metes and bounds," which uses a property's physical features to determine its boundaries. ---------------------------------------