Speculation Lands Collection (1752-1930) [electronic resource].

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Speculation Lands Collection (1752-1930) [electronic resource].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52843679

In Philadelphia in September of 1795, two agents, Andrew Baird and Lewis Baird, approached Tench Coxe, assistant to Alexander Hamilton, Treasurer of the United States under the Jefferson administration regarding land holdings of some half million acres in western North Carolina. The Baird agents represented the interests of the Rutherford Land Company that consisted of some 18 members or Trustees, including William W. Erwin , James Greenlee, and others. The Rutherford Land Company was apparently been created by Greenlee who owned extensive tracts in Burke County, North Carolina. Andrew Baird, a former New Jersey iron master, knew members of the Coxe family and this possibly accounts for the primary interest in Coxe as an investor. The Bairds offered Coxe an opportunity to purchase some or all of the land holdings of the Company, described as "east of the Blue Ridge Mountains" for 9 cents an acre. The tracts Tench Coxe eventually purchased, however, appear to have included land in present day Rutherford County, Polk County, Henderson County, Cleveland County, McDowell County and in Buncombe County. [William W. Ervin and Andrew Baird to Coxe, Sept. 17, 1795, Coxe Papers.] Tench Coxe through a series of purchases obtained some 400,000 acres in western North Carolina. He managed to retain many of the land holdings for some twenty years by placing his real estate into a land trust. The first trust was held by William Tilghman, a trusted cousin and family lawyer, another friend and relative Abraham Kintzing, and a close relative, Richard Coxe, his wife's brother. It is believed that Pierre-Estienne DuPonceau, a family friend and lawyer was also appointed a trustee at this time.  This collection details the Tench Coxe purchase, the subsequent trusteeships and ownerships, the ensuing financial intrigue, and the substantial survey activity generated by various real estate activities. To trace the chronology of the Speculation Lands activity or see THE TIME LINE.

University of North Carolina Asheville. Ramsey Library, Ramsey Library, UNCA

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SNAC Resource ID: 7659817

University of North Carolina Asheville. Ramsey Library, Ramsey Library, UNCA

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Coxe, Tench, 1755-1824

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62w377k (person)

Tench Coxe (May 22, 1755 – July 17, 1824) was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788–1789. He wrote under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian," and was known to his political enemies as "Mr. Facing Bothways." Born in Philadelphia, Tench received his education in the Philadelphia schools and intended to study law, but his father determined to make him a merchant, and he was placed in the counting-house of Coxe & Furman, becoming a partner...

Bronson, Isaac, 1760-1838

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x367cb (person)

Bronson (1760-1838) was a New York banker, businessman, land speculator, money lender, and promoter of westward expansion into what was the Northwest Territories, including Michigan. He served in the Second Regiment of Light Dragoons of the Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War as a surgeon's mate. Bronson married Anna Olcott (1764?-1850) and they had ten children. With his son and grandson, both named Frederic Bronson, he opened a bank in Bridgeport (Ct.). He died in Greenfield (Ill...

Justice, George W.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s54f11 (person)