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.

From the guide to the Speculation Land Company Records, ., 1796-1909, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

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