Book Description

First in 4-volume set. Alphabetic index (for letters A-H) of every name mentioned in 7300 early grants and deeds in the northeast portion of Buncombe County, NC. Covers the area north of Beaverdam Creek north of Asheville and east of the French Broad River. Deed book and grant file number references are given for each name, with a brief location description. Also shown is the role each person played in each transaction, such as grantor, grantee, chain bearer, witness, adjoining property owner, etc. Any biographical information contained in the source document is included. Each property is identified by an item number and map grid which ties to Volume 4, where the property locations can be found on topographic maps. (The item numbers were assigned by DeedMapper (from DirectLine Software) during several years of research.) The item numbers can also be used to discover all the participants in a given transaction (in Volume 3).This volume begins with a chapter of North Carolina county formation, migration, political and Cherokee treaty history, illustrated with color maps (both antique and newly-drawn). The second chapter gives detailed descriptions and illustrations of surveying, mapping, the land grant process, and little-known resources for discovering where people actually lived. Extensive bibliography. Color endpapers offer orientation maps and instructions on how to use this multi-volume set.