Land Grant to Francis Eppes Harris

Letter

Patrick Henry's Red Hill

Name/Title

Land Grant to Francis Eppes Harris

Entry/Object ID

77.121

Description

Iron gall ink on lambskin. Land grant to Francis Eppes Harris, with seal, signed by Patrick Henry on September 20, 1786.

Collection

Patrick & Dorothea Henry Collection

Transcription

Patrick Henry, Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of VIRGINIA, TO ALL WHOM these Presents shall come, GREETING: KNOW YE, that by virtue and in Consideration of part of a said – office Treasury Warrant number Seven Thousand nine hundred and thirty five, Signed the Sixth day of November One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty one — there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto Francis Eppes Harris — a certain Tract or Parcel of Land, containing Three hundred and Sixty Six acres, by Survey bearing date the twenty fourth day of September One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty four, lying and being in the County of Fayette on the waters of Hinksons fork of Sicking, and Bounded as followeth, To wit, Beginning at a Sugar Tree standing on the bank of Hinksons fork, thence down the said Creek as it meanders South Seventy degrees West Trenty sight poles, South fifty degrees West forty poles, South Seventy degrees West one hundred and twenty three poles to a large Sycamore Standing in the point below the mouth of Plumllick Creek, thence West 40 poles North fifteen degrees West 28 poles N20 E72 poles, N30 W16 poles, N65 W44 poles to a white Hickory and Boxelder standing on thence with his line S30 E190 po. to his comes a large white oak & Sugar tree; thence with another of his lines N60 E94 po. to the corner of his Survey of 1500 acres a Bettywood Standing on a ridge; thence with another line of said Survey S56 E118 po. to his corner two Hickories and a white oak in the line of Bryants preemption; thence with his line N34 E66 po. to his corner a line and Hoopwood; thence with another of his lines S56 E240 po. to a small white oak & Honey Locust in the line of Swearingen; thence with his line North 140 po. to a stake; N56 W210 po. to the Beginning With its Appurtenances; TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said Tract or Parcel of Land with its Appurtenances, to the said Francis Eppes Harris — and his Heirs for ever. IN WITNESS whereof, the said Patrick Henry, Esqe. — Governor of the Commonwealth of VIRGINIA, hath hereunto set his Hand, and caused the letter Seal of the said Commonwealth to be affixed at Richmond, on the Twentieth Day of September in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Six and of the Commonwealth the Eleventh P. Henry

Language

English

Dimensions

Width

17-1/4 in

Length

13-3/4 in

Provenance

Notes

Fayette County, Virginia was established in 1780 by the Virginia legislature from Kentucky County, Virginia. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, the French military officer who supported the American Revolution. Lexington was made the county seat in 1782. Fayette County and the town of Lexington retained their names when they became part of the new state of Kentucky in 1792. This land grant was issued to Francis Eppes Harris of Powhatan County, Virginia, for land in Fayette County in 1784. Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia at the time, signed it in 1786. According to Margaret F. Henderson, who owned the original land grant document in 1973, Harris never visited his land in Fayette County, Kentucky. She wrote that her ancestor, Edward Beck, bought it from Harris towards the end of the eighteenth century. The PHMF purchased the land grant four years later from Ms. Henderson on November 1, 1977.