Settling of Bounty Lands in Western North Carolina
How do you pay someone for a service rendered when you have no money? This was the exact position the leaders of the Continental Congress found themselves during the Revolutionary War. One abundant resource was land (even if not everyone would agree the land was theirs to give). So the previous colony – now the State – of North Carolina, under direction from Congress, offered land grants or bounty lands to soldiers as payment for their service.
Much of this land was in the far western parts of the state and it explains how some of our area was settled by people with European heritage in the late 1700s. The occasional users/occupants of this land at that time were primarily the native people of the Cherokee tribe, though hardy hunters and trappers were occasional visitors.
Post-War Bounty Land Grants…
After the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and as these new “states” got themselves organized to conduct business, there was the issue of claiming ownership of land currently held by the British crown. In 1777 the legislature of the “new” state of North Carolina passed an act allowing the state to take over the title to all “vacant” land within its borders. This land had formerly been the property of King George III or the Earl of Granville. In the same year, the state legislature also passed an act creating a procedure for selling the land to almost anyone who had the money to pay the required fees. These “instruments” were called grants, but don’t be fooled by that word – the land was not free.
Towards the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, in 1780 the far western portion of NC consisted of only two counties, Rutherford County bordering South Carolina to the south and Burke County to the north, bordering to the west what was to become Tennessee. As a result, old land grants for our area are recorded as being in Rutherford County which makes research all that much more challenging.
Revolutionary war soldiers returning home
(William Tylee Ranney, 1848)
For example, pictured below is a land grant for James and William Davidson for 640 acres of land on both sides of Davidsons Creek at the mouth on the west side of French Broad River. William Davidson was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, and he, along with his brothers Benjamin and James, was among the earliest European-heritage settlers in this area.
In fact, a number of Davidson family members had joined the struggle for Independence. The area involvement of this family is notably reflected through two cousins, also named William Davidson, who were each major landowners in the area. One, General William Lee Davidson, served with distinction until he was killed at the Battle of Chadds Ford, PA, in 1781; Davidson College is named for him, as are Davidson Counties in both North Carolina and Tennessee. The other, Major William Davidson, became one of the leading men of Buncombe County.
William is a prime example of a Revolutionary War veteran receiving land as a payment for his service. To receive a land grant, you had to have a verified amount of service in the army. The longer you served and the higher your rank, the more land was “entitled” to you. For example, a private received 7.6 acres for each month. If that private served 84 months (in other words, the entire war), he would be eligible to receive 640 acres. A major serving for 84 months was eligible for 4,800 acres. Colonels and chaplains serving for 84 months were eligible for 7,200 acres while brigadier generals were eligible for 12,000 acres. As a colonel, William Davidson would have been entitled to much more land than is recorded in this pictured grant.
[1] The chain is the unit of linear measurement for the survey of the public lands. One (1) chain is 66 feet and 1 mile is 80 chains or 5,280 feet.
State of North Carolina No. 545
Know ye that we have granted unto Benjamin Davidson six hundred and forty acres of land the County of Rutherford on both sides of French Broad River above James Davidson’s tract including the mouth of a fork on the northside beginning [sic] at a maple north west side of the River on Joseph McDowel’s [sic] land since transferred to Charles McDowell running then north one hundred chains[1] to a stake into clear meadow then East sixty four chains crossing the fork of the river to a stake then south one hundred chains crossing the river to a stake then west sixty four chains crossing the River with Charles McDowell’s line and along the same to the Beginning [sic]
To hold to the said Benjamin Davidson, his heirs and assigns forward dated the 16th day of November 1790.
J. Glasgow, Secretary
Alex Martin
For context regarding the document’s signatures:
Son of a Scottish minister, James Glasgow (c. 1735-1819) was educated at William and Mary College in Virginia. Glasgow was a Revolutionary patriot and early-on became friends with many of the individuals who shaped the American Revolution. He was active in the early Provincial Congress of North Carolina. Elected Secretary of State of North Carolina during the Provincial Congress at Halifax in December of 1776, Glasgow served as secretary of state until the administration of governor Samuel Ashe in 1795,
Alexander Martin (1740 – 1807) served as the fourth and seventh Governor of North Carolina from 1782 to 1784 and from 1789 to 1792. While serving as a colonel in George Washington’s army, Martin and his troops performed poorly in thick fog at the Battle of Germantown as they turned their guns on Continental Army troops mistakenly-identified as British, for which he faced a court martial. Though not convicted, Martin resigned from the army due to stress and poor health.
…Often Leading To Speculation
Land speculation was rampant after the Revolution War. Once they had returned to their homes, most of the North Carolinians who served were not willing to uproot their families from their established locations in the eastern part of the state and move west to the mountains. To further complicate things, the land granted to them was of little use to them until it was surveyed; and since Native Americans were living on the land and the land had not been purchased from these Native Americans, the new owners had difficulty claiming their grants. Often, these retired soldiers just sold their land grants to speculators at a low price because the land was relatively worthless to them.
The first land grant close to us was issued in the Cathey Creek area a few miles east of the Historic Toxaway area. Former soldiers and other new landowners were moving into the area with their families to set up their new life in what would become in 1861 Transylvania County. Trappers, fur traders, and immigrants – many from Canada – also settled in the area.
In a future installment, we will explore the challenging lives of those first settlers.
