More research and the little finds....

The sun finally peeked out a dried up all the rain we've gotten the last week or so.

The storm rolling out....

Since the rain has been....well, to the point you almost needed a boat to get out of the house, we've been stalled on doing any real work outside in the yard. I mean, who wants to try to mow the grass or anything in this?

A shot down DuBose Street. This wasn't even the worst of the rain!

Research continues to find the names of the original owners of our home and verify the build date we were given as 1850. This time I grabbed the book of sellers and checked out the Boatwrights to see who they were selling land to.

There's Sarah and Dr. John buying land...but what land?

 

Vince was at the other table researching deeds and surveys of properties. We learned a few things. First off, in the surveys and in some of the property records, there were these weird looking numbers that sort of looked like coordinates but....not. Here's an example:

                                                                See those numbers?

We spent quite a bit of time trying to make sense of them. It took a bit of research to try to figure out their system of measurement at that time also. We kept seeing things like this....

 

See where it says "727 chains"? Chain is a unit of measurement. 1 chain = 66 feet. 10 square chains = 1 acre. That was helpful! In these new land purchases, we discovered that 630 acres of Carwite property was purchased by the DuBoses for the whopping sum of $297.46. Wow.

While doing all this research, we ran across some interesting drawings on plots...

Surveyors would draw an actual arrow to indicate North!

 

I love the little house. I'm praying that says, "Cultivated Land" and not "Cultivated Sand!"

 

Dwelling house...wonder where in the county this was.....

 

Magnetic Meridian....also referred to Magnetic North.

There's that "chains" reference again! "Laid down by a scale of 10 chains per inch". I love their markers...."small pine", "black jack". Bet that "small pine" isn't small anymore if it's even still there! I believe the "black jack" reference is a Black Jack Oak....more commonly referred to around here as scrub oak. Scrub Oak is a small twisted tree that grows in poor sandy soil. It usually doesn't get very tall. Seems an odd thing to use as a marker!

 

This caught my eye because of the "Stage Road to Augusta" reference and the notation "Mount Vintage". I knew I recognized the name Mount Vintage. It is now a golf course and housing development in North Augusta. According to their website, the original home is in ruins but still there. I might have to see if I can visit it. I wonder if the roads are still there.....

 

Here's a closer look at the house and the "spring woods"....

 



 

And also, an interesting little tidbit....well, we're not sure exactly what to make of this! It's an admission of guilt, but we're not sure whether there was a land transfer as compensation or what. I'll translate that tiny writing...

 

The entry states:

"Jefferson Vansant                                    Certificate South Carolina       
        to                                                                         Edgefield District
 William Boatwright

I, Jefferson Vansant, of the District and State aforesaid, do hereby certify unto all whom it may concern, that at my house in the District aforesaid, on, or about the eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred, and forty, in a fight with William Boatwright, of the District aforesaid, I bit off the left ear of said William Boatwright. This certificate is given to protect him from the imputation of losing his ear in the course of legal punishment October 9, 1840. Sworn to before me the above date.
Geo. Pope c.c.p."

Yeah. We laughed! Folks couldn't behave themselves even in the 1840's! I'll leave you with a photo of Mac, one of our kitties. Mac just sort of showed up one day and decided he lives here. Now, he demands breakfast promptly at 6:00 AM every morning and he "preaches" at us....and occasionally the horses! He stands on top of a vehicle and yowls incredibly loudly for extended periods of time. Then, suddenly, he gets off the vehicle and walks away as if he's said what he needed to say!

Here he is watching us relocate a black snake from the middle of the parking area. He thinks my time would be better spent getting him a can of food.....