Cumberland County, NC Index to Deeds, Indentures, Quit Claims Contact: Myrtle Bridges
Division of property of Duncan Black - 1833
Explanation of how land claims and entries became land grants in North Carolina, from "The Dixie Frontier," by Everett Dick, 1948, p. 10: "The North Carolina law, applicable to Tennessee in 1782, had the advantage over that of Kentucky, however, in that an official surveyor marked off the land. The system was: (1) A claimant would go into the woods and mark out roughly the boundaries of the desired tract. (2) This rude survey when submitted to the entry-taker at the land office was called an "entry." He made a record of the entry and issued a warrant for the survey. (3) The official surveyor connected with the land office then made a survey and submitted a plat to the secretary of state, who issued a land grant. (4) The title was complete when the grant was recorded in the office of the register of the county where the land lay." (Source: Jan 1986 issue of the Cumberland County Genealogical Society newsletter) Contributed by Steve Edgerton September 17, 2005
Deed Records Insight All individuals doing research have at one time or another wondered about the system of measurements used by early surveyors. The basis of measurement was the Gunther chain invented by Edmund Gunther in 1620. The Gunther's chain was sixty-six feet in length and consisted of a hundred links of 7 92/100 inches each. It was made of number 6 or 9 wire. This chain played an important role in today's system of measurement. Our rod is 16 1/2 feet or one-fourth of a chain. The mile is 80 chains. The acre is ten square chains or 43,560 square feet. The rod was also known as the pole. Streets were laid out one chain wide. The old linear measure, now often called the surveyors measure, was as follows... 7 92/100 INCHES.... make 1 LINK 25 LINKS... make 1 POLE 100 LINKS, 4 POLES or 66 FEET.... make 1 CHAIN 10 CHAINS.... make 1 FURLONG 8 FURLONGS... make 1 MILE Deeds, Land Grant Insights In addition to the above information you will find on land grants the names of the CHAIN carriers. These are good clues to family relationships. The male chain carriers must have been 14 years or older and were usually sons, brothers of the grantee. If there were no males of age, the chain carrier was possibly a member of the wife's family. Deed of Gift When there are two dates listed on a deed of gift, and these dates are at a wide berth, you are looking at the approximate date of death for the grantor. Often deed of gifts from father to son divulge the approximate marriage date for the son. (Source: Jan 1986 issue of the Cumberland County Genealogical Society newsletter) Contributed by Steve Edgerton February 16, 2004
©Copyright September 2, 2011 Last up-dated August 31, 2022