Speculation Land Company

Speculation Land Company was a New York company which owned thousands of acres in Buncombe, Rutherford, and Mecklenburg counties, N.C. The lands were acquired by Tenche Coxe (1755-1824) of Philadelphia, Pa., in 1797. Soon afterward, Coxe assigned some of the lands to Peter Stephen (Pierre Etienne) DuPonceau (1760-1844) and Abraham Kintzig, also of Philadelphia. In 1809 the lands were sold to Augustus Sacket who later defaulted on his mortgage and the lands were returned to the ownership of DuPonceau and Kintzig around 1825. The lands were subsequently sold to a group of New York owners by the name of Thomson, Hoyt, Murray, and Bronson. The New York owners employed agents in North Carolina to manage the lands including James Stevens, Joshua Forman, Matthew W. Davis, Thomas B. Justice, and C. B. Justice. Spokesmen for the landowner group in New York were successively Arthur Bronson, Frederick Bronson, and Willett Bronson. The numerous heirs and assignees of this original group sold out, 1920, to Fred McBrayer of Rutherfordton, N.C., and George W. Justice of Hendersonville, N.C.

The Speculation Land Company sold and leased real estate in many southwestern North Carolina counties, particularly Rutherford, Polk, and Henderson. The owners, Isaac Bronson and Goold Hoyt, were based in New York, local agents were based in Rutherfordton, N.C. The Justice family, whose male members worked as agents of the company for several generations, generated or received most documents. Members of the Justice family also served as Baptist ministers for two generations.