Uncle Bob's land was parcel B107. I have outlined the boundaries in red, based on the metes and bounds description from the 1940 deed. The map includes what appears to be grid lines, but the property boundaries appear not to follow the grid lines exactly. Rather, the property boundaries are in a much fainter ink, and my red outline is on top of some much fainter lines that are barely visible.
This particular map was prepared by the goverment in 1942 and 1943 to show the parcels of land it was taking over. It is not a topographical map, and it is hard to get a sense of where Uncle Bob's land really was without the topo lines. If you walk from the southeast portion of Uncle Bob's land to the northwest portion, you will be walking down Chestnut Ridge, across Bear Creek Valley, and up Pine Ridge. As you cross Bear Creek Valley, you will be crossing Bear Creek Valley Road and Bear Creek itself. Bear Creek Valley Road is still there, but it has been moved much closer to the crest of Pine Ridge. And of course it is not open to the public because it is on the Y-12 reservation.
Parcel B154 belonged to Uncle Sam Letsinger and parcel B155 belonged to my grandfather Ernest Lester (Lester) Peters Sr. Uncle Sam was married to Aunt Elzie who was the sister of Bob and Lester. To get from Lester's house to Uncle Bob's house, you would walk southwest on Peters Ridge Road to Mt. Vernon Road, northeast on Mt. Vernon Road to Bear Creek Valley Road, and southwest on Bear Creek Valley Road to Uncle Bob's house. The little piece of the walk on Mt. Vernon Road would take you off of Chestnut Ridge and down into Bear Creek Valley. As far as anybody knows, Peters Ridge Road didn't really have a name when my grandfather was living there. The government apparently added the name when they were making the map because the road had to have a name. It would have made more sense to call it Chestnut Ridge Road. It did follow the crest of the ridge, but there was no Peters Ridge. The government apparently chose the name Peters Ridge Road because the road was on the crest of the ridge and the Peters family was living there.
One of Uncle Bob's long boundaries was 218 poles and the other was 221 poles. So we could say that walking from the southeast end of his land to the northwest end was about 220 poles, which is about 0.69 miles - nearly ¾ of a mile (a mile is 320 rods). That also helps to give a sense of scale to the map.
Parcel B101 belonged to my great grandparents Alva Edward Peters and Sallie Jane Cole. To get to their house, you would walk about another mile or so southwest down Bear Creek Valley Road past Uncle Bob's house. Alva and Sallie both died in 1942, before the government took the land. So the deed for parcel B101 refers to A. E. Peters heirs.
