Hey group.
If you know me well, you know that I would NEVER introduce confusion to a research project
(stated with tongue planted firmly in cheek). However, I'm going to do it this time so
be ready!
Check out "North Carolina Land Patent Book 49," page 133, File 381. It is a
grant entered March 1780 and dated October 23, 1783, for Enoch Osborn for 640 acres on the
south side of Elk Creek, a branch of the New River, in Wilkes County, NC. The boundaries
are described as beside the property of Thomas Harsh(Hash?) and "Jacob Wells." I
checked the original and, sure enough, it is "Jacob Wells." Of course, this
could be a mistake on the part of the transcriber, but maybe not. I also found in the
Washington County, VA Deed Book One/Two, page 214, a deed from James Armstrong and Robert
Preston to "Jacob Wells" on July 19, 1791, for lot #4 in the town of Abingdon,
VA. Of course, I'm sure you recall Washington County Deed Book 1(2), page 315, when on
May 3, 1799, Robert Preston sold to Zachariah Wells 900 acres on both sides of the Powell
River in what is now Lee County, VA. The "Jacob Wells" in these two documents
was too old to have been the son of Zachariah Wells ... so, who was he? I know that
neither of these documents proves anything, but it is intriguing since a Jacob Wells was
born in Prince George's County, MD, in 1735, the son of Nathan Wells and the grandson
of Thomas Wells, born in England in 1653.
See, I told you I would start something. Now, I'll step back and let y'all shoot
it down. John
John B. Wells III wellsga(a)bellsouth.net