Lenoir County NcArchives History....Survey, ca. 1777-1781 ***************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ***************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joe P. Sutton, PhD, sutton@edtesting.com, June 27, 2017. Clellan Sutton Collection, Bucklesberry Community, La Grange, NC. THOMAS BURNET, SR. SURVEY, ca. 1777-1781 Thomas Burnet, Sr. three hundred and fifty acres lying and being in Craven County. On the No. side of Neuse River beginning at a white oak a corner tree of John William's land and runs thence to 81 Wt. 88 poles to a white oak thence to 85 Wt. 88 poles to a pine then So. 20 Wt. 28 poles then No. 85 Ws. 88 poles to a red oak in Thomas Jones's line then along his line No. 30 Et. 60 then No. 30 Wt. 200 poles to a red oak another of Jones's corner trees thence Et. 250 poles to John Williams's line then with a straight line to the first station Dated 23rd May 1741 Gab. Johnston Copy J Glasgow Secretary [back side of document] Tho Burnet, Sr. 350 acres Craven END OF DOCUMENT Comments: At first glance, the date of May, 1741 indicated in the document would suggest it was prepared and written that year. However, the word, Copy, at end of the document (next to J. Glasgow’s name) signifies the document is indeed a duplicate of the original 1741 document. James Glasgow, who signed the copied document, was not sworn into office as Secretary of State until 1777, an office he held until 1789. Glasgow lived at Harmony Hall in Kinston from 1777 to 1781. Given the short geographic proximity between Kinston, where Glasgow resided, and Bucklesberry, where Benjamin lived (about 8 to 10 miles), would have easily accommodated Benjamin being able to obtain a copy of the document. Therefore, a circa date of 1777-1781 for the copied document is reasonable. The original 1741 document predates the birth of Benjamin Sutton (ca. 1752), known son of John Sutton and also pre-dates John’s arrival to Bucklesberry from his native Bertie County. The assigned circa date of 1777 to 1781 of the copied document would indicate that Benjamin was between 25 to 29 years of age at the time. Since Benjamin’s father, John, died before 1773 (per Marble), 4 to 8 years before the circa date of the copied document, Benjamin likely obtained it, not John. This would make this document, then, the earliest document in the Collection that can be tied directly to John’s son, Benjamin, even though neither Benjamin's or John’s names appear in the document itself. Per Martha Mewborn Marble (1.2.15 email communication), “Double-checked patent book today. That was a 1741 patent. Someone obviously requested a copy during Glasgow’s term. Can’t prove it but obvious reason was the current owner needed to clear up something. Probably mets & bounds. Big question...has always been...how did the Suttons get it. No apparent deed & that leaves inheritance.” For more on James Glasgow, see http://ncpedia.org/biography/glasgow-james http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Glasgow). A 'pole' is equal to 16.5 ft.