Here is the text of the deed:
(If anyone wants to download a plain text file of it, click here:
http://www.eastcarolinaroots.com/families/Carruthers/1742GranttoJohnCarru...
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From Craven County Book of Deeds (Vol 1), p. 156-157
Grant to John Carruthers, 1742
Transcribed by Sara Emily Whitford
North Carolina. Whereas by virtue of an act of assembly made and passed at Edenton
on the fourth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
&
twenty three an act for the beter ordering and regulating of the Town of Newbern
in
Craven precinct now called Craven County, Cullen Pollock, Richard Graves and
William Handcock esquires were appointed commissioners for the said town to sell
or
make over any lot or lots in the said Town not already purchased or secured by any
other person. And in & by the sd act it is provided that if either of the aforesaid
commissioners should die, that the other two with consent of the precinct court
of
Craven, should apoint another commissioner in the room and stead of the deceased.
Whereupon pursuant to the said act, Walter Lane esquire was appointed in the room
and stead of Richard Grave aforesaid who is deceased. The said act of assembly
further allowing that any two of the three commissioners shall have full power and
authority to sell & make over any lot or lots as aforesaid as in and by the
said
act relation being thereunto had may more fully appear. To all whom these presents
shall come know ye that we Walter Lane and William Handcock for and in
consideration of the sum of Four pounds to us in hand paid by John Carruthers the
receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge have given, granted, bargained and sold
unto the Sd John Carruthers and to his heirs and assigns forever Four lots in the
said Town. Beginning at a corner between Handcock Street and Pollock Street and
runs up Pollock Street So 85 West twenty six pole to Metcalf Street so. up the said
street No 10ð Et Thirteen pole then No 86 Et Twenty six pole to Handcock Street
and
so down the said street to the beginning. Containing two acres of land more or less
and are known in the plan of the Town by No 95, 96, 97 & 98.
To have and to hold the said lots with all and singular the profits, priviledges,
benefits, advantages thereunto belonging or in anywise appurtaining or that
herafter may be granted to the said Town. Also the privilege of getting all
firewood and Timber that he shall use in the said town or any part of the land laid
out or designed for the use of the said town or that hereafter be laid out for the
use of the said town, to the said John Carruthers his heirs & assigns forever.
The
said John Carruthers his heirs or assigns building one good habitable house on each
lot of no less do mentions (dimensions) then twenty feet in length and fifteen feet
in width without shed, within eighteen months from the day of the dates of these
presents, otherwise the said lots or either of them so neglected shall revert and
come to the said Cullen Pollock his heirs & c. and shall be free for any other
person to take up. And we Walter Lane & William Handcock the aforesaid lots
with
all priviledges, benefits aforesaid unto the said John Carruthers his heirs &
assigns against the claim or claims of any person or persons whatsoever, claiming
or to claim from, by or under us, or either of us or either of our heirs shall and
will warrant and forever defend by these presents according to the true intent and
meaning of the aforesaid act of assembly, he the said John Carruthers, his heirs
or
assigns paying yearly and every year unto the said Cullen Pollock his heirs &
c.
one peppercorn if demanded. Provided also and it is the true intent and meaning
of
these presents that if the said John Carruthers his heirs or assigns or any other
person whatsoever shall die in possession of the said lots and leave no heirs or
make any legal disposal thereof then the said Lots or either of them with all
appurtainances thereunto belonging shall revert and come to the said Cullen Pollock
his Heirs & a. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and affixed
our
seals this 24 day of July Anno Dom 1742.
Walter Lane {SEAL}
Wm Handcock {SEAL}
Signed, sealed & delivered
in the presence of us
Jas. Durham }
John Irons }
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Attached, please see the map that I've pieced together from the Craven County Library
site. I've noted where the lots are as well as where Tryon Palace sits today.
http://www.eastcarolinaroots.com/families/Carruthers/JohnCarruthersLots.gif
Here is pertinent information about the map:
(
http://newbern.cpclib.org/digital/TP1987065001.html)
Accession Number TP.1987.065.001
Title
Map: âÂÂPlan of the town of New Bern and Dryboroughâ¦âÂÂ
Maker
Artist/ cartographer: Jonathan Price
Engraver: Allen Fitch
Printer/ publisher: Unknown
Material
Laid paper, ink
Origin
North Carolina, New Bern
Date:
c. 1817
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A couple of points to remember: Tryon Palace wasn't even built until just before
the Revolutionary War. (bet 1767 and 1770)
Here is an excerpt from the Tryon Palace website explaining the history of the structure
and the land it sits on. For example, after it burned down the first time, George
St. was extended through the grounds for houses to be built on either side. Then
when the palace was restored, that was done away with:
(From
http://www.tryonpalace.org/palace.html )
"Tryon Palace was originally built between 1767 and 1770, as the first permanent
capitol of the Colony of North Carolina and a home for the Royal Governor and his
family. Governor William Tryon had brought John Hawks, an English architect, with
him when he came to North Carolina in 1764. Hawks designed the Palace in the manner
of a number of fashionable houses in the vicinity of London-- Georgian in style,
with symmetry maintained throughout. It was soon regarded to be the finest public
building in the American colonies.
Governor Tryon, his wife Margaret Wake Tryon, and their daughter Margaret, lived
in the Palace for just over a year. They left New Bern in June 1771, when Governor
Tryon was appointed to the governorship of New York.
Josiah Martin, the second royal governor to live in the Palace, fled in May of 1775
at the beginning of the American Revolution and his furnishings were later auctioned
off by the newly formed state government. Patriots made the Palace their capitol
and the fist sessions of the General Assembly met there to begin designing a free
and independent state. Four state governors used the Palace: Richard Caswell, Abner
Nash, Alexander Martin, and Richard Dobbs Spaight.
On the evening of April 21, 1791, the Palace was the scene of a dinner and dancing
assembly held in honor of President George Washington, who was visiting New Bern
while on his Southern Tour. (See the section on the Stanly House.)
Raleigh became the state capital in 1794. Space in the Palace was rented for various
purposes, including a Masonic lodge, a private school and a boarding house. In February
of 1798, fire started in the cellar, where hay was being stored. The fire quickly
devastated the main building, which collapsed, but the Kitchen and Stable Offices
were saved. The Kitchen Office was demolished in the early 19th century; the Stable
Office survives. (See Kitchen and Stable Offices.)
In the 19th century George Street was extended over the original Palace foundations
and dozens of houses and businesses were built on either side. At the end of the
street, a bridge crossed the Trent River.
In the 1930s a movement began to restore North CarolinaâÂÂs first capitol. The
movement
gained strength when volunteers tracked down John Hawks' original architectural
plans. In 1944, Mrs. James Edwin Latham, a Greensboro resident and native of New
Bern, challenged the State of North Carolina to join her in restoring the Palace.
She guaranteed her commitment through establishment of a trust fund dedicated solely
to the Palace restoration. In 1945, the legislature created the Tryon Palace Commission,
a body of 25 persons appointed by the governor, and charged it with the reconstruction
of the original Palace from its original plans on its original foundation. As part
its commitment, the state further agreed to maintain and operate the restoration
when it opened to the public.
Mrs. Latham died in 1951, shortly before the reconstruction of the Palace began.
Her daughter, Mrs. Mae Gordon Kellenberger, took on leadership of the restoration.
The first restoration challenge was to clear the site. This involved removing more
than 50 buildings and rerouting North Carolina Route 70, including a bridge over
the Trent River. Archaeological digs followed. They soon uncovered the original
Palace foundations, directly under the site that the highway had occupied. Layers
of stucco were removed from the stable office, the only remaining part of the 1770
complex. Then the painstaking job of reconstructing the Palace began. Craftspeople
from across the country and abroad were brought in to do the work. In the meantime,
trips to England yielded furnishings appropriate to the period of the original Palace.
Earnings from Mrs. LathamâÂÂs trust underwrote all of these time-consuming and costly
tasks.
The Palace was opened to the public in April 1959, as North CarolinaâÂÂs first great
public history project."
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I'm hoping some of you can help me solve this mystery about the "Lot 98"
mentioned in John's will to Rocksolannah.
Look forward to hearing from someone!
-Sara