James Dashiell (1634-1697), son of James Dashiell and Margaret Inglis, was born Scotland and immigrated from England to Northumberland County, Virginia in 1653. He married Ann Cannon in 1659, and moved to Somerset County, Maryland in 1663. Descendants and relatives lived in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, New York, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, California, Washington and elsewhere. Includes some ancestry and family history in England, Scotland, France and elsewhere.

The letters of the alphabet have been the object of speculation since their invention. This book examines the many ways in which the letters of the alphabet have been assigned value in political, spiritual, or religious systems over two millennia.