LAURENS AND NEWBERRY COUNTIES, SOUTH CAROLINA: SALUDA AND LITTLE RIVER SETTLEMENTS 1749-1775
AVAILABLE IN SECOND PRINTING EARLY NOVEMBER 1999 PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER $32.50 PLUS SHIPPING-UNTIL OCTOBER 15, 1999 LAURENS AND NEWBERRY COUNTIES, SOUTH CAROLINA: SALUDA AND LITTLE RIVER SETTLEMENTS 1749-1775. Jesse Hogan Motes and Margaret Peckham Motes. 1st printing 1994, 2nd printing 1999. 292 pages. Name/place index. ISBN 0-89308-501-4.
Pre-publication price until Oct. 15 is $32.50 plus shipping. Orders after October 15: $35.50 plus shipping ($3.00 for 1st book, $1.50 each additional book in the order). Order from Skip and Marge Motes, 26 High Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.
For more information e-mail Skip and Marge MotesWINNER OF THE 1995 NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE, METHODS AND SOURCES. This is a major work for researching early inhabitants of the region that became a part of Laurens and Newberry Counties. Using full page neighborhood maps of land tracts granted by the colony, it traces the settlement of the Saluda River and Little River regions from 1749 to 1775.These maps include over 520 individual tracts of land covering 104, 000 acres. The name of the grantee, survey date and acreage are given for each tract. The maps show rivers, creeks, branches, mills and paths. The techniques used in developing the maps are fully explained. The positions of the maps on modern Geological Survey topographical maps are shown for easy location of the tracts. The book has a name and place index.
Hundreds of bounding relationships among landowners are clearly presented in these maps. Important family and migration patterns develop that would not otherwise appear to the researcher. Colonial surveys are often referenced in later county deeds, making them an important aid for locating property and chains of title.
This book is more than just maps. Over 1200 South Carolina colonial land records are abstracted and fully cited. These records include the Colonial Plats and Memorials of Land Titles for every land tract that is used in the maps. Petitions for land, 1749-1759, are abstracted. These records are important sources of information on early inhabitants, including; (1) dates that the land petitions were submitted to the Governor's Council; (2) survey dates; (3) grant dates; (4) chain of title on conveyances or inheritances; and (5) names of other inhabitants who are a witness or signee for the grantee.
The book includes a historical narrative based on these land records, other contemporary sources, and excerpts that deal with these regions from the extensive literature on colonial South Carolina. In this section the names and migrations of the regions' earliest settlers are presented. A case study, using the migration of the Jonathan Mote family from Virginia to the Little River region, shows the use of colonial backcountry records and research methods.