Dan, You say that "Too often in the early musters and inventories of Virginia, 'fixed' appears opposed to some synonym of 'broken.'" Do you have any examples handy that would indicate unfixed=broken and fixed=functioning? From what I have seen in many inventories, this definition is not necessarily born out--we just assume it because of the current usage of the word 'fixed.' Our (assumed) usage is not supported by the Oxford English Dictionary in the lexical history of the word.... But, I am willing to be convinced otherwise! Mary Ellin D'Agostino [log in to unmask]