Rodger,

Pennsylvanian examples are most evident of much of what you shared, that is agreed. Having lived and worked there for almost ten years (Gettysburg area) I found PA as a very expansive state when it came to Barns and other vintage timber frames. Almost the complete scope of the craft can be found within its boundaries, with more distinct New England traditions being the strongest examples and much different than is found the further West traveled.

As for caps on certain term, it is neither intended as "high handed" nor of any association with "High German" (??) It is from two former style guides for professional writing that out of habit I tend to still follow, and after this many years of use with no complaint thus far I don't believe there is any good reason now to "drop the caps," and the alternative of underlining or bolding key terms is burdensome.

Edge Rule came directly from Amish mentors (et al) in the 70's, and a term I have used in accordance from that time for over 35 years now. In my experience, as for first conversations on this subject with others beyond myself, I was acquainted with the terms Line, Scribe, and Edge/Square rule...int the very late 70's and early 80's with Ed Levin and/or Rudy Christian. I have been personally fascinated with the subject of Layout Systems since that time, and do enjoy discussions and learning more about it whenever the opportunity presents.

I am not sure using a Google Search alone is always indicative of acceptance of a term or expression since most folks only do (or achieve) very superficial parameter searches and neither try (or know how) to do more in depth advanced researches on many subjects...especially obscure ones like this.

I can offer, for those interested, that placing search terms in direct quotes along with also including the conjunction "and"- followed by a related topic term can dial in the search more specifically. For example:

"edge rule" and timber framing

Additionally, for even more comprehensive information, going to the orgin language, spelling and writing system can yield even great results. For example, for Line Rule most of this is either in Chinese, Korean or Japanese.