Interim Project - Buncombe Co NC Deeds

As I continue to work on the George Patterson book, I've determined that I really need to finish another project I've worked on sporadically for several years - that being a more fully mapped set of land records for the area north and northwest of Asheville, NC in Buncombe County.

George Patterson was born in 1800 while his parents and grandparents were living along Jenkins Branch on the West side of French Broad River (FBR). However, over the years I've come to realize how many of their relatives and neighbors that lived on the West side FBR, also owned land and in many cases, lived on the East side FBR as well. Some were initially on the East side and later on the West, and vice versa. 

The deeds of Buncombe Co NC begin in the 1790's and are fully online at https://registerofdeeds.buncombecounty.org/External/LandRecords/protected/v4/SrchName.aspx

Knowing that I will be using much of this research in my books - which includes some of what I want to do in George Patterson's book - I am working through hundreds of deeds. 

I am capturing data about the deeds and tracking in Microsoft Excel for future summary purposes. I am saving the deeds (images of the deeds) as PDF files. 

I am then converting the PDF files (some are 1 image, some 2, some more than 2), into PNG image files, which saves each page as its own separate file. 

I am then using Microsoft Edge (browser) and its unique AI tool (Copilot) that will take a PNG image with cursive handwriting and transcribe it to text automatically. Surprisingly, the transcription process works correctly about 70-98% of the time. And most of the time I'd say it's 85-90% correct. That cuts down the manual process of transcribing exponentially!

I then copy these transcriptions into a Microsoft Word document. If there are multiple pages of the deed, I copy the transcription of all of those pages into the single Word doc, preserving the page breaks of course. At the bottom of each Word doc I have a reference line that I add that makes it clear where this deed was acquired, for example:

Buncombe Co, NC Deeds: Book 3: Pages 231-232

I then copy the text from the Word doc into a text file to reformat in the Deedmapper format. However, I still keep the Word doc as I know I will later copy many of these deed transcriptions into future books, which are written in MS Word. The deedmapper text files require only certain pieces of the transcriptions, and they have to be in a specific format. 

I then copy that deedmapper text from the text file into my DeedMapper program, create a new deed, then paste it in the new deed on the Text View tab. I can then switch to the Plot View tab for that new deed, which shows the deed overlaid on my map. I then drag the deed to the correct place on the map, if I know where to place it.

Black Family of Clarks Fork SC and Cooks Creek VA

Matthew and Robert Black of Clarks Fork, York Co SC and Cooks Creek, Augusta Co VA

Last Updated 2018-02-16

During the 1760's, there were several households within the BLACK family who settled along Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek in what is now York Co SC. This location is very close to the NC line just south of Kings Mountain. However, during the 1760's, it was actually claimed by NC, first under Mecklenburg Co, then Tryon Co. Prior to that even, it was known as Craven Co SC, but by the 1770's the boundary line was resurveyed and it was determined this area was inside SC, and the newly formed York County.

Surveys and Land Grants were issued by NC during the 1760's and early 1770's for this Clarks Fork (CFBC) region and has been preserved to this day. Four men acquired land along CFBC during the 1760's named Matthew Black (Jr), Robert Black, Joseph Black, and Gowen Black. For more information on my interpretation of their relationships, so my main page on the BLACK family. 

How many of these men actually lived in Augusta Co VA just west of Harrisonburg, along Linville Creek and Cooks Creek? For certain, Matthew Black (Sr) and Robert Black. I believe Matthew Sr to have been the father of Robert, Matthew Jr, and Joseph. There was also a Gawin Black in Augusta not far from Matthew and Robert. It is unclear if he was a brother of Matthew Sr, and or a son. It is also unclear if he was the same "Gowen Black" who moved to CFBC in SC, or if that Gowen was another son of Matthew Sr.

The following records are a summary of documented records in VA and NC and SC regarding these Blacks. The Va location today is in Rockingham Co Va. Not all records for all Blacks in York Co SC are recorded. But the ones listed include the ones from Clarks Fork and may possibly include some unrelated Blacks, but that fact is unclear at this time.

Disposition of Robert Patterson Sr's York Co SC Land

Disposition of Robert Patterson Sr's York Co SC Land

CFBC Home  |  Robert Patterson Sr  |  Cravens & John Patterson
Last Updated 2018-01-22

I've written many times regarding the disposition of Robert Patterson's lands on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek (CFBC) in York Co SC. I am tracking well over 50 specific tracts along Clarks Fork - some of which are overlapping. Nonetheless, I believe I am getting much closer to determining what happened to his land - at least over time. All of this is very near Smyrna, SC and just south of Kings Mtn Military and State Parks.

Robert (d.1775) had two known tracts in SC - the 200 ac tract he was granted in 1767 from NC, and the 150 ac tract he inherited from his son James Patterson, formerly owned by Robert Cravens Jr.

I have plotted these tracts in Deedmapper and am continuing to fine-tune the precise placement of these and surrounding tracts. Of the 50+ tracts I've already plotted, many are subsequent transfers of ownership of existing tracts already plotted. But in many cases, I need clearer descriptions. So here's hoping later deeds pertaining to these tracts will be clearer and more accurate. I'm in the process of increasing my field of work to look at over 125 tracts around Clarks Fork and Kings Creek.

Thus far, here is my interpretation of what I've found regarding Robert Patterson Sr's land. His two tracts on my index are #1 (200 ac) and #8 (150 ac). The following image shows the dimensions of the 200 acre tract (#1).

Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek, York Co SC - Cravens & John Patterson

Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek, York Co SC - Cravens & John Patterson

CFBC Home  |  Robert Patterson Sr  |  Cravens & John Patterson

Last updated: 2018-01-17

For years I have tried to determine where Robert Cravens' 150 acre tract was located in relation to Robert Patterson Sr's 200 acre tract. I had assumed that when Cravens' survey was described as adjacent Robert Patterson, it meant Robert Sr, but I always knew there was a possibility it could have been referring to Robert Patterson Jr. Turns out, it was Jr.

Recently, I began working on a presentation for Harald Reksten regarding this very issue. However, the actual process of documenting all of it helped to open several road blocks I had encountered along the way. The major discovery made during this process is that there had been at least two later deeds that made reference to separate deeds being "adj. John Patterson" - and that this Robert Cravens tract has to be the land that was later in the possession of John Patterson. Well, that has to be my ancestor John Patterson, son of Thomas, and grandson of Robert Sr. But there has never been any deeds or grants showing John receiving or disposing of any York Co SC land.

The following map shows seven (7) primary tracts of land and their fairly accurate proximity to each other along Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek in York Co SC.

Clarks Fork tracts, mapped in Deedmapper by Wes Patterson

The Pattersons

Robert Patterson Sr (who died in 1775) was the father of Thomas, Peter, James, Robert Jr, and William Patterson. He also had daughters who married Daniel Ponder Jr, John Black, and Joseph Black.