Tom, having recently spent days in the Sussex County VA County Clerks  
office looking at early 19th century hand written land records, deeds, wills,  
and the like, how certain are  you that the writing actually says  "rubber"?
 
Just a thought.  Also, what is the earliest use we have of the word  
Rubber?  What do period dictionaries say?   Grasping at straws  here, but just 
coming at from another angle.
 
Cheers,
John

Would it help if I mentioned that most of the  carpenters on the payroll of 
Hudson's Bay Co., which operated Fort Vancouver,  were of French Canadian 
origin? Could something have been lost in translation  between a list 
provided by a semi-literate French-speaking carpenter and the  English clerk who
 
was compiling the inventory of the shop?
Still a puzzlement.
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