Dawson, James, fl. 1793.

This tract of land on Tyger and Pendleton Creek off the Ohoopee opened up one of the largest single tracts to settlement in the 1790s.

"Clement Biddle (1740-1814) was the second son of John and Sarah Biddle... He was born in Philadelphia and entered his father's shipping and importing business at an early age. Business was interrupted by the onset of the Revolutionary War, when in 1765, Clement and his brother, Owen, signed the non-importation agreement and pursued patriotic activities in Philadelphia. In 1775, Clement Biddle helped to organize a Philadelphia volunteer regiment, the "Quaker Blues." In July 1776, he was appointed deputy quartermaster-general by Congress, holding the rank of colonel. Clement participated in the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and he served under both Washington and General Greene. He retired from the military in 1780, and resumed his business as a merchant. In retirement, he was appointed to several military and governmental posts, including Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1788, and United States Marshal of Pennsylvania in 1789, a position to which he was appointed by George Washington." -- "Biddle Family Papers." University of Delaware Library, Special Collections Department. http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/biddle.htm (Retrieved March 26, 2010)

"Nicholson, John (1757-5 Dec. 1800), land speculator, financier, and entrepreneur... had no formal education but was apparently astute in finances; in October 1778 he was appointed clerk in the Chamber of Accounts of the Board of Treasury of the Continental Congress. It was during this period that he met Robert Morris, "the Financier of the Revolution," and began a twenty-year friendship and business association. After the Revolution, Nicholson was appointed auditor (1781) and then comptroller general (1782-1794) of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He used his role of comptroller general to gain control of vast land holdings in Pennsylvania and, from this base, eventual control over twelve million acres in seven states and territories... Nicholson's final major land speculation venture was the North American Land Company, begun in 1795 in partnership with Morris and Greenleaf. The company was a giant consolidation of the scattered lands of the partners encompassing six million acres in seven states and territories. Like his other ventures, most of the land was secured on credit; when enough buyers did not materialize, the project collapsed in 1798." -- "John Nicholson." American National Biography Online. http://www.anb.org/articles/01/01-00659.html?a=1&n=nicholson%2C%20john&d=10&ss=0&q=1 (Retrieved March 26, 2010)

"Morris, Robert (20 Jan. 1735-8 May 1806), preeminent merchant and revolutionary financier... became involved with John Nicholson, who, having gained uncertain title to some four million acres of land, now needed capital. In 1794 Morris and Nicholson established the Asylum Company, a vehicle for selling about one million acres of Pennsylvania land to prospective French settlers. Although their expectations were not fulfilled, the company continued to 1819. In 1795 Nicholson and Morris were joined by John Greenleaf, a businessman who had returned from Europe after dealing in U.S. securities in Holland, to form the North American Land Company, an elaborately organized corporation often regarded as the largest land trust ever established in America. The company pooled some six million acres of land located in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and what became Washington, D.C. Differences between the principals and dishonesty in the use of joint funds by Greenleaf resulted in Morris and Nicholson buying out Greenleaf in 1796. The extensive holdings became involved in legal tangles when neither partner was able to raise sufficient cash to meet their obligations, and both men became bankrupt. The problems of the company were still in litigation as late as 1869. Morris was also forced to surrender his individual holdings, involving millions of acres, to claims of creditors. In February 1798 Morris was imprisoned for debt. After passage of a federal bankruptcy law, he was released in August 1801. He died in Philadelphia." -- "Robert Morris." American National Biography Online. http://www.anb.org/articles/01/01-00633.html?from=../01/01-00659.html&from_nm=Nicholson%2C%20John (Retrieved March 26, 2010)

From the description of Washington County, Georgia, land grant, 1793-1794. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 575846549