Diven inheritance and 208-acre title trail, 1774–1822 — qualified identity evidence

2 November 2026 — Inheritance and identity research. These records strengthen the title trail behind James Senior's home farm. They do NOT yet prove that James Junior, husband of Nancy/Ann Parkison and dead before 20 October 1813, was Senior's son. Junior's proposed relationship is Senior's son and Alexander's brother, not Alexander's son. No people, parent links or identity mergers were added.

SOURCES INSPECTED AND PRESERVED

1. Mary Glen release, 5 April 1774, acknowledged 30 October 1800, recorded 1 January 1810. Cumberland Deeds 1807–1810, p. 329: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSFB-YS1G-3 John Glen and Mary his wife, explicitly a daughter of Alexander Diven of Lancaster County, deceased, release their interest to James Diven of Tyrone Township, Cumberland County, under Alexander's warrant dated 3 March 1755. Witnesses James Glen and Elizabeth Glen. Full original image visually inspected. Property ownership does not establish each party's residence.

2. William/Joseph Diven and wives to James, 30 March 1780, recorded 29 April 1780. Cumberland Deeds 1776–1785, pp. 479–480, image 269/757: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3P-NSP3-F William and Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth, described as of Carlisle and the men as masons, convey two undivided sevenths for £70 to James, a Tyrone farmer. Recites Alexander's 3 March 1755 warrant and his six children: Mary, James, William, Joseph, Jean and John. Full original visually inspected. The tract is 208 acres with a small perch remainder; the remainder differs or is imperfectly copied/read across these early deeds and must not be silently standardized.

3. John Diven and Margaret to James, 7 October 1794, recorded 27 January 1796. Cumberland Deeds 1791–1796, image 667/842: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7S-MSDV-5 John is a Paxton Township, Dauphin County carpenter; James a Tyrone, Cumberland farmer. Recites the same 3 March 1755 warrant, 208 acres and twenty-one perches, and the six children Mary, James, William, Joseph, Jean and John. John and Margaret convey an undivided seventh for £60. Full original visually inspected. Six named children and seven shares are retained as recorded; this is not evidence for an unnamed seventh child.

4. Tyrone Rates for 1814, Cumberland Taxpayer Lists 1808–1814: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS74-J9H1-5 Separate rows name James Diven with 208 acres, a tanyard, six horses and two cows, and James Diven's heirs with a house, three lots, tanyard and land. Joseph Diven also appears. Full original visually inspected. Separate assessments support distinct property interests, not fatherhood or a move date. The heirs' three lots are consistent with Junior's separate 1812 purchase of lots 6, 7 and 8.

5. Executors John and Joseph Diven to William McClure, 1 May 1822. Perry Deeds 1820–1827, pp. 276–277: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSXB-N3SY-X Full original visually inspected. Recites deceased James's 19 May 1818 will, his 12 December 1812 patent for 208 acres 32 perches, and 26 March 1822 agreements separating William Diven's portion, Joseph's devise and the residue sold to McClure. This ties the 1818 testator to the patented tract. It does not itself identify Junior.

6. Pennsylvania Patent Book H7, p. 647, 12 December 1812, DGS 8715698, image 445: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-J3D6-99D8-D Actual patent image obtained and visually read. Grants James Diven 208 acres 32 perches; recites Alexander's warrant dated 1 March 1755 and Secretary's order of 29 September 1763, plus James's warrant of 16 April 1793. It explicitly says Alexander died intestate and the Cumberland Orphans' Court awarded his rights to James. It does NOT call James his son, date the court award or mention Junior. This provides a stronger title link than acreage alone. The earlier deeds' 3 March 1755 versus the patent's 1 March 1755 discrepancy is retained.

7–8. Pennsylvania official copied surveys, Book C41, digital pages 123 and 125 (printed pages 62 and 63). Both certified 23 June 1904; full PDFs attached to this evidence record. Collection interface: https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-114CopiedSurveyBooks/r17-114MainInterfacePage.htm Digital page 123 / printed 62: Alexander's tract, resurveyed 12 September 1812, 195 acres 119 perches. Its own note corrects the warrant to 1 March 1755. Local source filename: pa-survey-c41-p123.pdf. Digital page 125 / printed 63: James's 12 acres 73 perches, surveyed 9 May 1793 under the 16 April 1793 warrant; adjoins James Diven's other land. Local source filename: pa-survey-c41-p125.pdf. Together 195 acres 119 perches + 12 acres 73 perches = 208 acres 32 perches, using 160 perches per acre, exactly matching the patent and 1822 deed. These are official later copies, not original 1755 documents. The collection interface is supplied because the archive strips encoded spaces from the direct PDF links; the unchanged PDFs are preserved here.

9. Pennsylvania patent index H1–H20, digital page 86 (printed 83): https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17patentindexes/H1809-23PatentIndex86.pdf Finding aid confirms H7 p. 647 and 12 December 1812. Its warrant-order year appears 1766, differing from the actual patent's 1763. Prefer the patent reading and retain the discrepancy.

ASSESSMENT AND REMAINING TESTS

The combined title trail strengthens the identification of Senior's home tract with the earlier Alexander/James inheritance. The earlier Alexander was dead by 1774 and must NOT be confused with Senior's son Alexander, whose estate opened in 1797. The 1794 carpenter John is also not automatically the later executor John. The earlier deed acreage and later resurvey total remain source-specific.

Junior's parentage remains unproved. Priority tests are Senior's 1823 named $50 grandchild receipts or guardian vouchers, Cumberland inventories D091/D105, the 2 April 1838 Tagg-to-James A. instrument, and identities in Margaret Brewster's 1868 cousin bequests. Locate the earlier Orphans' Court award mentioned in the patent for Senior's origin question, while keeping it separate from Junior's parentage question.

Peter Hench's guardianship has a maternal explanation: he married Nancy Parkison's sister Catharine. It is not independent evidence that Senior was Junior's father. Keep Junior/Nancy/their four children distinct from Alexander's son James/Mary Jane and all unproved later namesakes.

Nine full source files are attached and were downloaded back with matching SHA-256 hashes. No relationship was inferred solely from surname, acreage, guardianship or the Senior/Junior labels.