TNGenWeb Archive State Files - Tennessee's 12th and 13th Surveyors' Districts ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Fred Smoot dogtrot@well.com Visit the Tennessee land history project at: http://www.tngenweb.org/tnland/ ==================================================================== TNGenWeb Tennessee 3rd Surveyor District Map Project TNGenWeb Project An Archival Map of Tennessee's 3rd Surveyors’ District ~ 1807 ~ © Frederick Smoot, 1998 This is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the Middle Tennessee Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol. XI, No. 1, Summer 1997. Please consult that issue for abstracts of most of the grants found on the original map. Introduction There is an archival map of Tennessee's 3rd Surveyor's District at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville. For good cause we date this map as late 1807. This map, No. 399 is very large, in fact it is too large to be reduced in size and then satisfactorily reproduced. Therefore, a redrawing was in order. The towns of Cookeville, McMinnville, Sparta and Spencer have added to the newly drawn version for your reference. Those towns did not exist in 1807. The map illustrates the section numbering system used in the 3rd District. That system was different from the system used in the 1st and 2nd Districts, Middle Tennessee's other two early Surveyor's Districts. For most of the 3rd District's twenty year lifespan, 1807-1827, the 3rd District was considered to be in West Tennessee. However, earlier, North Carolina considered that area to be in her Middle District and is so reflected in her grants there. The western bounds of the North Carolina Middle District were the east bounds of the North Carolina Military District, also known as the Military Reservation. The first seven Surveyor's Districts, including the 3rd were created by the Tennessee Assembly in 1806. The section and range lines were probably run in the spring of 1807. At least, this was the case with the 2nd District, one of the 3rd District's neighbors. As the surveyor went about his business, he would mark in his field notes, all waterways, both great and small. He would not follow the creeks and branches to their source or to their outlets, hence you will notice incomplete waterways crossing the lines. Usually, a number of surveyors would be employed to survey a whole District and then all the single line surveys would be combined to produce the map of the District. Actual entries for land in the 3rd District started on 3 Aug 1807. Surveys for individual tracts would follow. North Carolina Grants and 3rd District Surveys Many North Carolina plats of grants are shown on the map as are also a few 1807 Tennessee plats. It is possible that the map was never finished for great many older North Carolina grants in the area are not drawn on the map. Many, but not all, of the grants have been identified. Key Name Section Date AL LYTLE, Archd S1 1800 N. C. Land Grants Book "A", p. 244. TSLA MF #1. AR RAWLIN_, A S14 Not identified EB BRYUM, Ebenezer S14 1794 N. C. Land Grants Book "A", pp. 114, 115. TSLA MF #1 EH HARRIS, Edward S22+ 1796 N. C. Land Grants Book "C-3", p. 374. TSLA MF #6 EW WILLIAMS, Eliza S19 1796 N. C. Land Grants Book "A", 237.TSLA MF # 1. DM DOUGLASS & M--? S13+ 1793 N. C. Land Grants Book "6", p. 501. TSLA MF #17 DT DONELSON, Stockley & TERRILL, W. S22 1796 N. C. Land Grant Book "C-3", p. 355. TSLA MF #6 GC CHRISTIAN, Gilbert S11 1793 N. C. Land Record Book "A", pp. 91, 92. MF #1. Also Book 8, p.623. MF #19. JG GADDY, John S2+ Not identified JM MEENES, J S1 1794 N. C. Land Grant Book 11, p. 115. TSLA MF # 22.. JM MEENES, J S1 Not identified JR RICE, John S10 1802 N. C. Land Grant Book "A", p. 253. TSLA MF #1 RK KING, Robt S19 1797 N. C. Land Grant Book "A", pp. 223-224. TSLA MF #1. RL LYPERT, R. S8 Not identified SD DONELSON, Stockley S1-6 1796 N. C. Land Grant Book "A", p. 218. TSLA MF #1. SL SCHOOL LAND 640 acres each Schools, for the use of S10 1807 p. 320. S11 1807 p. 321. S12 1807 p. 321 S14 1807 p. 321 S29 ---- p. 323 S35 ---- p. 324 S34 ---- p. 324 TSLA Record Group 50, MF #36, Book 39. 3rd Surveyor's District, Plats and Surveys. SM MARTIN, S1 1807 TSLA Record Group 50, MF #35, Bk 34. p. 1. 3rd Surveyor's District, Plats and Surveys. SW WILLIAMS, S. S13 Not identified TC CLARK, T. N. S31 Not identified TM McCORRY, Thomas S25 Not identified TO O'NEAL, T. S13+ Not identified TW WADE, Thomas S40+ 1796 N. C. Land Grants Book "A", p. 235. TSLA MF #1 WL LYTLE, W. S1,2 Not identified G. Kay McGee researched the land grants for us. Thanks Kay! Modern Counties in the Old 3rd District Bledsoe Clay Cumberland Grundy Hamilton Marion Overton Pickett Putnam Sequatchie Van Buren Warren White Permanent publication rights granted to TNGenNet Inc., and to USGenWeb Archives.