52 Ancestors (2020) – Week 14: Water: Daniel Coor’s Land on the Little Coharee in Sampson County, North Carolina

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Land Grants

I found that Daniel Coor of Sampson County, North Carolina, obtained a land grant on 10 July 1788.[1] He had entered on the 10 May 1787 and it was surveyed on 20 May 1787. This piece of land was located on the east side of Little Cohara. The land description of the fifty-seven acres is as follows:

“Beginning at his own corner, a Maple and runs along his line S75E 124 poles to his other corner, a pine, thence his other line S15W 127 poles to his corner a white oak, thence S75E 26 poles to a white oake, thence N15E 167 poles to a pine, thence N 75 W 153 poles to a pine, thence to the beginning.”

To learn more about the land grant process, see “North Carolina land grant procedure 1777-1800.”[2]

This description does not give any solid reference point nor lists a neighbor. However, the land grant documentation included a drawing of the piece of property. Enoch Herring was the surveyor and William Hair and Richard Bass were the chain bearers. Chain bearers were usually men who knew the purchaser or were perhaps the neighbor.

Daniel received another land grant that had been previously entered on 5 April 1785 by John Wigs, and Daniel was issued the grant on 16 Nov 1790. This one hundred acre plot was located on both sides of Little Cohara near the bridge.[3] This plot was surveyed by E. Herring for Daniel. Below I believe is Daniel’s signature:

The description of this 100 acre plot is as follows. I have highlighted neighbor names in red for easy reference:

“Surveyed for Daniel Coor 100 acres of land in Sampson County lying on both sides of Little Cohary. Near the Bridge beginning at a Hickory near William Owens’ corner and Runs So 60 W 155 pole to a sweet gum in the Marsh of Cohary thence No 30 W 80 pol to a Red Oak on the Bank of Little Cohary thence So 75 W 19 pole to a Red Oak near Southy Fiskers line thence South 35 E 26 pole to a pine near Fiskers corner So 51 W 56 pole to two small pines thence So 30 E 35 [?] pole to a white oak thence E 218 pole to a stake on Barnabas Halls line thence to the Beginning.”

The chain bearers were Lazarus Hall and William Hair. William Hair had been a chain bearer for the earlier grant. This land description has more identifiers and neighbors listed. Here is the map of the property:

Now, I can’t seem to see how these two properties connect, and maybe they don’t. But I now have neighbors. William Owens corner is the beginning. Southy Fiskers near the creek. And Barnabas Hall. I have labeled them on the map below.

These were the only two land grants found for Daniel. Next I searched the Sampson County deed records for additional purchases and sales. I want to compare them against each other. Sometimes men bought and later sold the same piece of property. Sometimes they bought additional land adjoining their own property. I found six transactions before he died in 1807. I also found transactions made by his sons, John and Raiford, long after Daniel’s death.

Land Purchases

In February 1791, he purchased land from John Butler.[4] This deed described the purchase as three separate tracts, perhaps because they were not connected, or perhaps to keep the original land grant description isolated. This first piece of land of 100 acres was on the east side of Little Cohary and described as:

"beginning at a white oak a little above Joseph Bryants upper line about twenty poles from the Cronk [Creek?] and runs North 15 East 127 poles to a pine Thence North 75 west 124 poles to a maple at the Run in gum branch, thence down the said Branch South 70 West Sixty six poles to the mouth Thence down the Creek as its meander to the Beginning Containing [dark spot] acres of land being a patent granted to John Hair bearing the date of 5 Feb 1768"

John Hair’s land, surveyed by Wm Dickson and chain bearers of Wm Hair and Wm Deere was granted in Duplin County.[5] Sampson County was created from the western part of Duplin county in 1784.[6] The image of the survey is here:

The second piece of one hundred acres on the east side of the Little Cahary and on the Black branch was described as:

"Beginning at a bay in little Cahary at the mouth of Juniper branch and runs South 85 East 107 poles to a maple in a pond Thence South 5 west 107 poles to a stake in John Butler’s line Thence North 85 west along Butlers line 127 poles to a Gum in Cahary, Thence up little Cahary to the beginning,"

This land was granted to Needham Dees on 4 Feb 1783.  The land was surveyed by Danl Williams, and chain bearers were Charles Butler and Samson Dees.[7] Below is the image of the survey. The bottom line is Butler's line:

Then the third tract of land on the east side of Little Cahary and on both sides of Black branch was described as:

“At a maple in a pond Needhams Dees corner and runs South 85 East 127 poles to a pine, thence South 5 West 127 poles to a pine in John Butlers line, thence North 85 West along Butlers line 127 poles to a stake Needham Dees corner, thence along his line to the beginning, being a patent granted to Hardy Dees 4 Feb 1783, containing 100 acres.”

Hardy Dees land was surveyed by Danl Williams, and the chain bearers the same as Needham Dee’s survey.[8] The image of that survey is below:


These last two deeds line up side-by-side, with the bottom line being Butler’s line. Imagine the two spots where the red circles are being connected.

On 14 May 1793, Daniel sold two tracts to Thomas Holland.[9] William Honeycutt and William Fowler were the witnesses. This land was on the east side of Little Caharee and the Black branch. It is described as:

“Beginning at a maple in a pond Needham Dees Corner and Runs South 85 East 127 poles to a maple in a pond, thence South 5 West 127 poles to a stake in John Butler’s line thence No 85 west along Butler’s line 127 poles to a gum in Caharee thence up Little Caharee to the beginning containing 100 acres. 

Also another tract on the east side of Little Cahara and west side of the Black branch,

“beginning at a maple in a pond Needham Des corner and runs south 85 East 90 poles to a gum in the Black branch, thence down the Black branch to a gum in Little Caharee and thence up Little Caharee to a bay tree in Needham Dees line and beginning, containing 50 acres.”

The first tract is a repeat of the land that was the Needham Dees original grant. The second tract appears to be the west half of the Hardy Dees grant.

On 23 January 1794, Daniel sold a 100 acre tract of land to Southey Fisher that was located on both sides of Little Cahara:

“beginning at a hickory near William Owens corner and runs south 60 west 155 to a sweet gum in the marsh of Little Cahara thence North 30 West 80 poles to a Red Oak  on the bank of Little Cahara thence South 75 West 19 poles to a Red Oak near Southey Fishers line thence south 35 East 26 poles to a pine near Fishers Corner thence south 57 west 56 poles to two small pines thence south 30 East 45 poles to a white oak thence East 280 poles to a stake in Barnabas halls line and thence to the beginning”

Charles Butler and William Owens were the witnesses. This tract is identical to the second land grant he received.

Daniel purchased land on 19 December 1805 from Robert Charles Johnston, a resident of New York City, who sold the land through his attorney, John Dickson.[10] It was located on the back of said Cooks new Survey between Little Cohara and Rye swamp and described as:

"Beginning at a pine in the fork of the Black Branch and runs N 53 Et crossing of said branch 160 pole to a black jack thence So 37 East 92 pole to a stake on Felix Hairs line then with his line and past his corner So 27 west 180 poles to a stake on said Coors own line thence with his line passing his corner to the Beginning containing 133 acres, being part of a patent granted to Roger Aldon for 11950 acres in 1796 and by said Alden conveyed to Robert Charles Johnston by deed..”

Witnessed by John Ray and W. Trapeal.

Death of Daniel Coor

This was the last deed transaction of Daniel Coor. He died sometime before November 1807, when his wife, Jemima, and son, John, began the administration of Daniel’s estate. They entered into bond of one thousand dollars and were made administratrix and administrator. They were ordered to sell perishable property of the deceased. In February 1808 they returned to court with an inventory and account of sales of her husband’s estate.[11]

However, there were no deed transactions for the land Daniel still owned. In 1811, John moved to Mississippi territory with his mother and younger siblings.[12]

Fast forward many years, after looking at all deed transactions by Coor men in Sampson County, there was a transaction between two Coor men (John Coor and Raiford Coor) and William C. Butler on 2 November 1833.[13] John was of Copiah County, Mississippi and Raiford of Sampson County. They sold for $400 paid in hand four tracts of land in Sampson County located east of Little Cohara containing 390 acres. The witnesses were Evan Crumpler and Soloman S Lessums.

First:

“beginning at pine in a fork of the Black branch & runs N56 E crossing of said branch 160 poles to a black jack, thence S37E 92 poles to a stake on Felix Hairs line, thence with his line & past his corner S 27W 180 poles to a stake on Coor own line, thence with their line passing their corner to the beginning (133 acres).”

Note: this is the same tract sold to Daniel from Robert Charles Johnston in 1805.

Second:

“on the east of Little Cohara beginning at a white oak a little above Joseph Bryan's upper line about 20 poles from the creek & runs N15E 127 poles to a pine, thence N 75 W 124 poles to a maple at the run in Gum branch, thence down the said branch S70 W 66 poles to the mouth thence down the creek as it meanders to the beginning (100 acres).”

Note: this is the first tract that John Butler sold to Daniel in 1791.

Third:

“on the east side of Little Cohara and both sides of Black branch at a maple in a pond Needham Dees corner & runs S85 E 127 poles to a pine, thence S5W 127 poles to a pine in John Butler's line, thence N85W along Butlers line 127 poles to a stake Needham Dees, thence along his line to the Beginning (100 acres).”

Note: this is the third tract that John Butler sold to Daniel in 1791.

Fourth:

“lying on the east side of little Cohara beginning at his own corner a maple & runs along their line S75E 124 poles to their other corner a pine, thence their other line S15W 127 poles to their corner a white oak, thence S75E 26 poles to a white oak, thence N15E 167 poles to a pine, thence N75W 153 poles to a pine, thence to the beginning (57 acres).”

Note: This is the first land grant he received in 1788.

This accounts all of the land that Daniel purchased and either he sold or his sons sold. I kept tract of all of the deeds by placing the transactions into a table and color-coding the transactions. This helps see the buying and selling transactions of the same piece of land and helps keep track. I found a sale Daniel made that I have not found the purchase.

Here is the first page of the table. The complete table is located here. As I find a match, I color-code the pair.

What I should to do next is to find the other tract original grants located on Little Cohara and then I should plat each of the deeds on paper and see if I can connect them in some way. A start would be the names listed in the descriptions of the various deeds.

I did find a map that sort of shows where this land may have been. The map shows water courses but not the small ones mention in these deeds. One deed mentioned Rye swamp, so maybe that helps determine where the land was.

---

[1] “North Carolina, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” index & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Mar 2020), Sampson > 1-315 > image no. 1092 of 1420, Daniel Core, shuck no. 246; original data North Carolina Land Grants, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

[2] “North Carolina land grant procedure 1777-1800,” Carolina Books (http://abpruitt.tripod.com/id6.htm : accessed 30 March 2020).

[3] “North Carolina, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” index & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Mar 2020), Sampson > 316-610 > image no. 73 of 1454, Daniel Coor, shuck no. 330; original data North Carolina Land Grants, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

[4] Sampson County, North Carolina, Deeds, v. 8, p. 413, Daniel Coor to John Butler, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), citing FHL film 553540.

[5] “North Carolina, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” index & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Mar 2020), Duplin > 928-1534 > image no. 338 of 1392, John Hair, shuck no. 1119; original data North Carolina Land Grants, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

[6] “Duplin County History,” https://www.duplincountync.com/duplin-county-history/.

[7] “North Carolina, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” index & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Mar 2020), Duplin > 2737-3001 > image no. 933 of 1324, Needham Dees, shuck no. 2928; original data North Carolina Land Grants, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

[8] “North Carolina, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960,” index & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Mar 2020), Duplin > 2737-3001 > image no. 963 of 1324, Hardy Dees, shuck no. 2934; original data North Carolina Land Grants, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

[9] Sampson Co, North Carolina, Deeds, v. 9, p. 310, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), citing FHL film 553541.

[10] Sampson Co, North Carolina, Deeds, v. 14, p. 407, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), citing FHL film 553543.

[11] Sampson County, North Carolina, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Minutes, 1794-1824, Daniel Coore Estate, Nov. 1807; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), citing FHL film 19940, dig. film 8139513, images 328 & 330.

[12] Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770–1823, Indian, Spanish and other Land Passports for Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Dorothy Williams Potter, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., p. 294. [microfilmed at FHL 361879 and visible at FamilySearch, dig film 7900778.

[13] Sampson Co, North Carolina, Deeds, v. 23, p. 409, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), citing FHL film 19930.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.