| Title | Speculation Lands Collection (1752-1930) |
| Creator | Justice, George W. ; Justice, C.B. ; Justice, W.B. ; Justice, S.J. ; Justice, T.B. ; Justice family members ; Speculation Land Company |
| Subject (Keyword) | Tench Coxe ; Francis Sidney Coxe ; Revolutionary War ; land acquisition ; North Carolina real estate ; land speculation ; land tenure ; land survey ; Buncombe County, N.C. ; Henderson County, N.C. ; McDowell County, N.C. ; Polk County, N.C. ; Rutherford County, NC ; Asheville, N.C. ; George W. Justice ; James Glasgow ; Samuel Ashe ; Isaac Bronson ; James Greenlee ; James Beard ; Joshua Forman ; |
| Subject (LCSH) | Alexander, Francis Ashe, Samuel Beard, James Beard, Lewis Baird, Alexander Baird, James Bronson, Arthur Bronson, Frederick Bronson, Isaac, 1760-1838 Bronson, Oliver Bronson, Willett Cherokee Indian Reservation (N.C.) -- Boundaries Cherokee Indian Reservation (N.C.) -- Surveys Coxe, Tench, 1755-1824 Coxe, Francis Sidney Coxe family Deeds -- North Carolina -- Rutherford County Erwin, William W. Forman, Joshua, d. 1848 Glasgow, James Greenlee, James Hoyt, Goold [Gould] Hyatt, Jacob Justice, C. Bayliss Justice, George W. Justice, J. B. Justice, Samuel J. Justice, Thomas B. Justice, W. B. Justice, William M. McIntire, Archibald North Carolina, Western -- Genealogy North Carolina, Western -- History Land companies -- United States -- History Land grants -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History Land grants -- United States -- History Land tenure Land titles -- North Carolina Land speculation -- North Carolina Polk, William J. Public land sales -- Great Britain -- Colonies -- History Public land sales -- United States -- History Rutherford Land Company -- North Carolina Sackett, Augustus Tilghman, William, 1756-1827 United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 United States -- History -- 1783-1815 |
| Description | In Philadelphia in September
of 1795, two agents, Andrew Baird and Lewis Beard,
approached Tench Coxe, assistant to Alexander Hamilton,
the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States under Washington's
administration, regarding land holdings of some half million acres in
western North Carolina. The Baird agents represented the interests of
the Rutherford Land Company that consisted of some 18 members or
Trustees, including William W. Erwin , James Greenlee, and
others. The Rutherford Land Company was apparently created by
Greenlee who owned extensive tracts in Burke County, North Carolina.
Andrew Baird, a former New Jersey iron master, knew members of the
Coxe family and this possibly accounts for the primary interest in Coxe
as an investor. The Bairds offered Coxe an opportunity to purchase some
or all of the land holdings of the Company, described as "east of the
Blue Ridge Mountains" for 9 cents an acre. The tracts Tench Coxe
eventually purchased included land in present day Rutherford County,
Polk County, Henderson County, Cleveland County, McDowell County and
Buncombe County. [William W. Ervin and Andrew Baird to Coxe,
Sept. 17, 1795, Coxe Papers.]
Tench Coxe through a series of purchases obtained some 400,000 acres in western North Carolina. He managed to retain many of the land holdings for some twenty years by placing his real estate into a land trust. The first trust was held by William Tilghman, a trusted cousin and family lawyer, another friend and relative Abraham Kintzing, and a close relative, Richard Coxe, his wife's brother. It is believed that Pierre-Estienne DuPonceau, a family friend and lawyer was also appointed a trustee at this time. This collection details the Tench Coxe purchase, the subsequent trusteeships and ownerships, the ensuing financial intrigue, and the substantial survey activity generated by various real estate activities. |
| Publisher | D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 |
| Contributor | Gene and Sharon Robbins ; Joe
Kimmel ; Lynn Roundtree ;
UNCA is especially indebted to the careful inventory completed by Gene Robbins and for the sharing of that inventory and notes with the D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections. |
| Date | 2003-02-14 |
| Type | Collection ; Text ; Map |
| Format | 850 items ; 4 linear ft. |
| Identifier | http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/speculation_lands/default.htm |
| Source | M03.3.1-14 ; P03.3.1 ; OS03.3.1 |
| Language | en=English |
| Relation |
Frank Coxe Oral History, D.H. Ramsey
Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville
28804 Tench Coxe Collection (1798-1910), D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 Frank Coxe Papers (1899-1987), D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 Speculation Land Company Papers, #2876, Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Southern Historical Collection. Speculation Land Company Records, 1775-1992. #124, Appalachian State University, Belk Library, W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection Archives. West, Lucy Fisher. Guide to the Microfilm of the Papers of Tench Coxe in the Coxe Family Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1977. Coxe Family Mining Papers, 1774-1968, #3005, Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), Philadelphia, PA.. |
| Coverage | 1755-1984 ; Pennsylvania ; North Carolina ; Tennessee ; New Jersey ; South Carolina ; New York |
| Rights | Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law. |
| Donor | Donor number #186 ; Joe and Steven Kimmel, Asheville, NC |
| Acquisition | 2003-02-30 |
| Citation | Speculation Lands Collection, [Item #...], D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 |
| Processed by | Special Collections staff 2003-04, 2008 |