Hello Everyone, I'm back at a problem sorting out Bentleys in Amelia County. In brief, the question is whether or not, given the dates below, the Samuel Bentley whose baptism is recorded on December 30, 1719, in No. Farnham Parish records, Richmond Co. VA, is likely to have been the same Samuel Bentley who obtained a land patent not quite fifteen years later in October 1734 in what is now Amelia County, then Prince George Co. I have several other reasons for believing this is not the case, but two questions regarding this information: First, it is my understanding that colonial Virginia parish practices/requirements were to baptize babies when they were very young. Is this true? Could you assume this would be before they were three? I note that the above Samuel, s/o Daniel and Ann had a sister baptised November 2, 1717 and a brother baptised March 13, 1720 (1721). So the parents seemed to have them baptized at regular intervals. Would they likely wait until each child was around nine years old? Second, I know that Samuel Bentley would have to have been 21 years old when he obtained his patent in 3 Oct 1734. We also have discussed here how the entire process often took a number of years, but I have the impression it was usually in the neighborhood of about a year. Would an individual have had to have been at least 21 to even initiate the paperwork, obtain a survey, etc.? Thanks in advance for any assistance. Best Regards, Janet Hunter To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html