Timeline

Spring 1795 In Philadelphia in the spring of 1795, Andrew Baird approaches Tench Coxe, who had served as an assistant to Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of the Treasury (resigned Jan. 31, 1795) in the Washington administration, regarding holdings of some half million acres of land in western North Carolina. Baird represented the interests of the Rutherford Land Company that consisted of 18 members or Trustees, including William W. Erwin , James Greenlee, Lewis Beard, and others. The land of the Rutherford Land Company had apparently been acquired through Greenlee who owned extensive tracts in Burke County, North Carolina. Burke County, formed from Rowan, was in its earliest form (1777-1792) a large land holding encompassing parts of present-day Avery, Caldwell, Alexander, Catawba, Mitchell, Madison, Buncombe, Haywood, and McDowell Counties. By 1795 Burke County was diminished in size and encompassed parts of present-day Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell, Burke, and McDowell Counties.

Andrew Baird was a former New Jersey iron master and knew members of the Coxe family, which may account for his interest in Tench Coxe and the resulting offer to Coxe to purchase some or all of the holdings east of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 9 cents an acre. The entire tract included land not only in old Burke County, but also in present day Rutherford County, Polk County, Henderson County, Cleveland County, and Buncombe County. The total acreage was approximately 540,000 acres (William W. Ervin and Andrew Baird to Coxe, Sept. 17, 1795, Coxe Papers.)

June 27, 1795  Tench Coxe enters into a contract to purchase 100,000 acres from the Rutherford Land Company trustees and negotiates payment in one year in specie of $9,000. (As a public official, Coxe's annual salary was $1,200. He received a partial subsidy from his father William to complete the purchase.)
July 1795 Tench Coxe makes a down-payment of $6,000 and an Article of Agreement is drawn up in Rutherford County, for the management and sale of the lands. 
November 1795  Lewis Beard, then sole representative of the Rutherford associates, offers an additional 80,000 acres to Tench Coxe again at 9 cents an acre. Coxe verbally agrees to purchase the additional land.
November 7, 1795 Believing that he could rapidly sell his new purchase and realize a profit, Coxe writes to a prospective agent, Nathaniel Gorham, "I am willing to sell, at twenty cents, one hundred thousand acres of land in North Carolina ...[land] ...in a county ... in which is now a courthouse, iron works, four or five great roads ..." In a blatant abuse of public office, Tench Coxe makes Gorham, a subordinate in the revenue office in Massachusetts, his principal land agent.  (Coxe to Nathaniel Gorham, Nov. 7, 1795, Coxe Papers)
December 6, 1795 & January 16, 1796 Tench Coxe hires Ephraim Kirby and Samuel A. Law, already brokers for his Pennsylvania land, to broker his interests in the North Carolina land. His offer to bring the two into partnership with him was declined in lieu of a 5% commission on the sale of the land. 
January 1, 1796 Tench Coxe signs a formal contract to purchase the entire 180,000 acres offered by the Rutherford Land Company in western North Carolina. The acreage was approximately one-third of the total land holdings of the Company.  
January 1796  Tench Coxe enters into a partnership with William Constable to purchase the remaining acreage of the Rutherford Land Company. The two send agent Joseph Burr to North Carolina to negotiate the purchase. In a secret deal, Coxe makes Burr his sole agent and Constable ceases to a partner.
February 6, 1796  Joseph Burr informs the trustees of the Rutherford Land Company that he is authorized to make an offer on behalf of Tench Coxe for "the whole of the remainder, vixt 360,000 acres on a credit of two years from this time without interest at ten Cents per acre or I would give nine cents and interest from the purchase." (Coxe to Erwin, Greenlee, and Beard, Feb.6, 1796, Coxe Papers)
February 9, 1796 Tench Coxe reconsiders and purchases a smaller tract of 90,000 acres but requests a "description of the several large tracts... and draughts of the whole 540,000 acres." Coxe's logic was that the smaller purchase would give his agents time to sell his other holdings for inflated amounts and thus provide the capital for the new purchases. ( Coxe to Erwin, Greenlee and Beard, Feb. 9, 1796, Coxe Papers)
May 1796 Tench Coxe receives a letter from William Polk, Treasury Department  supervisor for North Carolina and large land holder. Polk proposes the sale of lands in Mecklenberg County, NC. Coxe makes a tentative agreement with Polk for some 40,000 acres with payment due in October 1798. (William Polk to Coxe, May 26, 1796, Coxe Papers)
July 21, 1796  Tench Coxe writes to Governor Robert Morris regarding his speculation and suggests a joint venture. (Coxe to Morris, July 21, 1796, Coxe Papers)
August 1796  Tench Coxe reopens negotiations with the Rutherford Land Company for the purchase of an additional 122,240 acres, bringing his holding in the state of North Carolina to nearly a half million acres. He imagines Rutherford as a model county, a land of milk and honey, to which investors would flock. He proposes to offer through a land company four hundred shares of stock, of which he would hold two hundred shares. He imagines building a town with a church, a school, a library, and various local industries. During the spring and summer of 1796 Coxe's agents circulate his "Plan of a valuable and profitable Settlement in the County of Rutherford, in North Carolina", an Advertisement in the form of a broadside throughout the country. (Examples found in Coxe to Dexter, May 5, 1796 and to Davis, July 3, 1796, Coxe Papers)
Late August 1796 Tench Coxe experiences reservations after a series of setbacks and poor choices in investors, namely Dr. John Ruston, a partner in the Pennsylvania land purchases of Coxe. Ruston, a voracious land speculator, faced bankruptcy and also charges of fraud connected with speculation. He eventually went to prison for debts in excess of $100,000. One of Tench Coxe's agents writes to him that the "land bubble had been pricked ..." 
December 1796 Tench Coxe is faced with paying his debts or spending time in jail alongside his friend Dr. Ruston.  With monetary support from family members and the security of 20,000 acres of land, Coxes escapes certain criminal proceedings, but how he did so is unclear. His troubles regarding his debts were, however, not over. Years of litigation related to his land speculation followed him the remainder of his life. 
May 20, 1797 Tench Coxe receives a letter from  Robert Morris turning down his joint speculation venture. Morris writes: "The Dearth of Money and the consequent Embarrassments public and private force Men to limit their Views and Operations to a narrow Compass ...from the various tricks which have been plaid they are led to doubt the Utility of Land Speculations in America." Morris was soon to know the full fury of unwise speculation. (Morris to Coxe, May 20, 1797, Coxe Papers
May 7, 1798 Tench Coxe draws up his "Proposals for a Land Company." His utopian proposal was a failure. Coxe turns to his father for help. 
 
September 6, 1798 Deeply exasperated by his son's inability to manage his affairs, William Coxe responds, "My grey hairs are Compleatly brought with sorrow to the grave by your mean Teasing Letters for 3 Months past to Sacrifice my Childrens fortunes to enrich yours, Contest my Will, and Derange my affairs. Hence forward ... you shall not interfere or meddle with my Estate in any manner whatever [nor] direct me or Tirannise over me to the Last minute of my Life." The father then places Tench's inheritance in a managed trust. (William Coxe, Sr. to Coxe, Sept. 6, 1798, Coxe Papers)
June 1799 Suits related to contested land, recovery of money, and non-payment of debt now follow Coxe. He is party to legal proceedings instituted by William Polk related to the North Carolina lands, particularly the Rutherford tract. Overwhelmed by lawsuits, Coxe seeks to put his lands into a trust. He assigns the land to William Tilghman, a trusted cousin and family lawyer,  Abraham Kintzing, a friend, and Richard Coxe, his wife's brother. It is believed that Pierre-Estienne DuPonceau (Peter Stephen DuPonceau), a family friend and lawyer, is also appointed a trustee at this time. This trusteeship is prudent and keeps Coxe from bankruptcy.
1799-1819 Amazingly, Tench Coxe is able to retain his North Carolina land holdings for nearly twenty years. The annual taxes and the enormous interest on his debts do not dissuade him from his single purpose to possess land. His records indicate that at one time he owned some 350,000 acres in Pennsylvania (200,000 of which was contested) and 400,000 or 500,000 acres in North Carolina (the exact number of acres is still debated.) It is little wonder that most of his life was consumed by litigation, negotiation, and financial juggling.
1819 Augustus Sacket, Sr., New York mercantilist, acquires 399,040 acres from the Trustees of  Tench Coxe but defaults on the first installment of the mortgage.  Additionally,  he provides prospective land purchasers with invalid deeds and/or titles and also, apparently, warrants with no legal documentation to support the acreage. In short, Sacket's purchase is invalid and the trustees search for another buyer.
December 1819 Augustus Sacket, Jr. arrives in Rutherford County and makes an appearance at the January Court of 1820, according to the memorandum book kept by James Stevens, a later agent of the "Speculation Land Company". Sacket circulates a broadside stating "FOR SALE: 400,000 ACRES OF LAND, In the Counties of Rutherford, Mecklenburgh , & Buncombe, In the Southwestern Parts of the State of North Carolina -- not inferior in any respect to the Alabama or any other district or country in the United States." Sacket refers to the Speculation Lands as the "Speculation Land Company."
May 1820  Augustus Sacket, Sr., "Old Sackett," arrives in Rutherford County in the company of another son Edward Sacket. He leaves in December but is back in North Carolina the following year. Augustus, Jr. and Edward remain in Rutherfordton. 
1821 Augustus Sacket, Sr. comes to North Carolina to appear before the North Carolina Superior Court. He remains in Rutherford County until the fall and then returns to New York. Retention of the North Carolina Speculation Lands and his mortgage are in difficulty.
April 1825 Jacob Hyatt, acting on behalf of the Coxe trustees, arrives in North Carolina. He writes to Arthur Bronson: "I have heared [sic] not anything particular respecting the Speculation Lands (as they are termed here) except that they have been sold and the old story that they are generally thin. I believe no one suspects the object of my business. It appears that Money is very scarce in this country, many of the people involved in debt to such a degree that their property will have to be sold, which makes many anxious to sell and very few if any purchasers."
July 12, 1825 Pierre-Estienne DuPonceau, once aide-de-camp for von Steuben at Valley Forge, as an appointed trustee for the estate of Tench Coxe, assigns the Sacket mortgage to a group of investors. Included among the investors are Isaac Bronson, a wealthy banker and land speculator from New York, Gould Hoyt [also written as Goold Hoyt], another banker, James Thompson, and James B.  Murray
1825 Isaac Bronson, Gould Hoyt and associates send Jacob Hyatt to North Carolina to oversee the land holdings.
1829 Joshua Forman is appointed as agent for the "Rutherfordton Speculation Lands" for Isaac Bronson and Gould Hoyt. Forman arrives in North Carolina to execute his responsibilities.
March 8, 1830 A Deed of Trust and Power of Attorney is issued declaring that the management of the "Speculation Lands" will always be under the control of the families of Isaac Bronson, Gould Hoyt and Archibald McIntire.  The position of Superintending Agent is created for family members, and a Resident Agent position is created to oversee the lands in western North Carolina.
1838-1844 Tiemmon [?] is Resident Agent
1842 A large map (0001) is created for the heirs of Isaac Bronson, who had died and left his lands contested. Bronson's will is probated in Rutherford County in September 1858.
1845-1852 M. W. Davis is appointed and serves as Resident Agent. He is believed to be the first member of the Justice family to be associated with the Speculation Lands. 
1853-1872 Thomas B. Justice is appointed and serves as Resident Agent
September1858 Isaac Bronson's will is probated in the Rutherford County Court in September 1858.
1873-1911 C. Bayliss Justice is appointed and serves as Resident Agent
June 1906 C Baylis Justice prepares a report of the "three bodies of land valued respectively at $5.25, $4.25, & $3.25 per acre." He indicates that the tracts are "Known as the Speculation Lands." They total some 50,000 acres. The report appears to have been prepared on June 1906, though the date has been crossed out. The audience and the purpose of the report are unknown. 
December 12, 1906 George E. Ladshaw files a report on the feasibility of developing hydroelectric power plants on the Green River in Rutherford County.  
1911 Samuel J. Justice is appointed Resident Agent
1912 A lawsuit is filed against the heirs of Isaac Bronson, the Trustees of the "Speculation Land Company", and others. The Court is requested to devise a way to equitably dispose of the Speculation Land Company holdings.
August 1, 1917 -  George W. Justice is appointed as a Commissioner to oversee the dissolution of the "Speculation Land Company". 
March 15, 1920 Final Report of George W. Justice regarding the Company is filed on this date.
March 18, 1920 George W. Justice and Fred McBrayer buy the remaining 9,376 acres, and with this action the "Speculation Land Company" ceases to be.
2002 The George W. Justice home is purchased by Gene and Sharon Robbins of Hendersonville. The iron safe in the basement is opened and the documents of the Speculation Lands are discovered.
January 30, 2003 The papers of the Speculation Lands come to the University of North Carolina at Asheville through a generous local donation from the Joseph Kimmel family. Processing begins.

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