You may be holding the office of "Ranger" as indicative of wealth or
affluence.  I think that neither were necessarily the case.  Rangers were
local men who were assigned the task of keeping public roads and trails open
and passable, and particularly they kept an eye on the Indians, and warned
folks when danger was in the offing from Indians or animals.  They were
keepers of the peace, and were paid a small amount for their travel and
costs of the occasional forays.    

Take a look at this URL.  It speaks to the subject of "Colonial Rangers".
Incidentally, MD yet has such officers. 

http://marylandrangersassociation.com/centuries.aspx  

-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeanine Scholz
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 7:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Apprenticeship records

You have been a great help to me.

One thing that I still cannot understand is why or how Richard Highfield
became one of the horse rangers in 1692 in St. Mary's County, MD with
Richard Brightwell. From all I can determine, Richard was not that successul
financially. I would imagine one had to know how to ride a horse and perhaps
have some equipment to be able to serve as a ranger. This is out of the
range of the discussion I know, but it continues to be of some interest to
me.

Thanks again for all your help.

Jeanine Scholz

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