Metes, Bounds, and Meanders, Oh My

Deed from James C Vandever to I Z Shelton, 1888, White County, TN

mete
noun
a limit or boundary

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/metes

I recently located several deeds involving Isaac and Amanda Shelton from White County, Tennessee. The property descriptions are classic metes and bounds surveys, using such terminology as "Beginning at a Rock" and referring to poles, links, and compass directions. Understanding the descriptions is a nice challenge in paleography, deciphering the clerk's handwriting, and basic geometry. I look forward to platting out the deeds and attempting to locate them on a modern map.

Armistice Day 1918 in Tennessee

It is Veterans Day in the United States. Originally called Armistice Day and signifying the formal end of World War 1 in 1918, November 11 became known as Veterans Day in 1954.

My Shelton ancestors were living in White County, Tennessee, on 11 November 1918. While browsing the Library of Congress newspaper collection online, I came across The Chattanooga News, published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, located about 100 miles south of Sparta in White County. Their headlines read "Final Terms Drastic" and "Terms of Armistice Tie Hun Hands Completely." One article, with a more home-front focus, has the headline "Wilson Orders All Draft Calls to be Cancelled."

Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038531/1918-11-11/ed-1/seq-1/

While I am unsure whether or not my ancestors received a newspaper, I have no doubt that the news of the war's end spread quickly throughout the state.