I think we need a little background on county formation to understand where this property was in 1798, since today it is located on the border of Caldwell and Lyon Counties. What was to become the state of Kentucky, and originated as part of Fincastle County, Virginia, became Kentucky County, Virginia in 1776. This did not include the Jackson Purchase counties – Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall and McCracken – they were still Chickasaw land at this time. In 1780 Kentucky County, Virginia, was divided into three counties – Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln. Lincoln County consisted of the lower portion of the state, south of Fayette and Jefferson. In 1792, when Kentucky became a state, Logan County was created from Lincoln. If you drew a line from Louisville to the southern part of the state, Logan was everything west of that line. In 1796 Logan County was divided into thirds, Christian County became the largest third and furthest west. In 1799 Livingston County was parceled from Christian, the Ohio River being its western boundary. In 1809 Livingston was divided to include the new county of Caldwell. And in 1854 Caldwell was divided to include Lyon County. This seems like a long introduction, but it is very important to know the parent counties when researching. Our survey was made in 1798 – which county was this property in at that time? It was still Christian County, and to look for original records you would go to the Christian County Courthouse.
It all seems a bit confusing, doesn’t it? I use the AniMap software program. It includes all fifty states. It’s a basic program and easy to use. You can download the program to your computer (which I did), or you can have the CD mailed to your home. The first map of each state gives the start date and the county or counties that were included at that time. Double click on another date and it will show you which counties were included at that time. The Gold Bug offers this for sale.
Eddy Creek in Lyon (on the left) and Caldwell Counties. My dark blue line is beneath the creek.
Delivered to the owner the 2nd November 1798
Surveyed for Robert Wood, 158 acres of land by virtue of the Commission Certificate No. 4074, on the Big Eddy [Creek] beginning at an Elm and Red Bud, standing on the bank of the creek, corner to Joseph Thompson, thence East 156 poles to a Dogwood, Red Oak and two Gums. Corner to Joseph Thompson and in a line of Benjamin Kivell’s, thence South 160 poles. With said line to a White Oak, corner to Edward Mitcherson, thence West with said line, 174 poles to a White Walnut, White Oak and Sugar Tree, standing on the bank of the creek, thence N 4, East 10 poles, thence N 71, East 13 poles, thence N 51, East 8 poles, thence N 64 East 26 poles, thence N 47, West 10 poles, thence, N 12, W 27 poles, thence N 74 E18 poles, thence N 54, W 17 poles, thence N 28, East 21 poles, thence South 62, West 8 poles, thence N 29, W 20 poles, thence N 15, E16 poles, thence N 5 W 14 poles, thence N 70, E 10 poles, thence N 5 poles to the beginning, the 10th November 1798
Jesse Ford
James Thompson, James T. White
Categories: Old Documents
