HI Dave and ALL: As a 72 year man who was raised in the Big Sandy - Danville area I may be of some help finding a home or farm location? I also have a homemade MAP of the area between" Benton Cut" and Danville made about 15 years ago by my wifes unkle TROY WYNN before he died ,Troy only had a 5th grade ED. but he shows where most everyone lived between 1910 & 1980 and even had an X showing where special events happoned ie. where his father was kicked by a mule that shattered his knee when Troy was 11 years old and he had to finish the crop. a pretty good way to find a Farm location is by " RANGE & SECTION " most of the area near Big Sandy was RANGE 9 and the section was the area that later became the voter district ie. sec.9 (Faxon area} about 1860 became Dist.9 and Most Deeds used creeks , rivers,branches,and other known landmarks for location id. if any one needs help in this area let me know.gabbie P.S. I plan on bringing the MAP to the Next D C reunion. At 09:26 AM 7/18/99 -0700, you wrote: >Hi Lillie, > >Some roads still bare their old names, ie, Point Mason, Natchez Trace, >etc.....but most never had names per se. > >Early on roads were catagorized as to their 'class', ie, 1, 2, 3, Turnpike ><yeah Benton Co had a Turnpike thru it>. State set the rules for the >classification as to width and such. I've read the statutes but don't >remember where and am to lazy this morning to look them up. Also, >Tennessee is a 'meets & bounds' state, which means that surveys and road >lay-outs are specified by physical items on the land, eg, 120 yards to the >White Oak tree with the ugly branch, then west 60 yards to the eastern >border of Ulma Thurmonds Super-Duper Beauty Palor for the Celebrity >Wannabees. This makes it really tuff sometimes to figure out from an old >surveyors description just where a piece of property laid, plus alot of the >old landmarks are gone, like the old trees. > >The roads additionally were in a state of flux, and you have to follow the >Court Minutes carefully, eg, The roads around Big Sandy were constantly >being rerouted as oldtimers died and their land divided and traffic to the >old homestead decreased. The old route would be declassified and new routes >'cut' and 'classed'. Additionally, as river and creek beds demanded, new >routes would be forged to overcome weather related problems such as lowland >flooding in an attempt to make the roads more weather proof. > >'Highway' classified roads appear to be named after the towns that they >connected. ei. Pt. Mason Road went from Big Sandy to Pt. Mason, Faxon Road >went to Faxon, Lick Creek went to Lick Creek. I don't know where New Hope >Road was supposed to go. I can only imagine. Lower class roads really >didn't have names......you said you were going to Wyatt's Mill or Widow >McKenzies and everyone knew the roadway you were going to take to get there. > >But all is not lost just because you don't have a modern road name. >Careful study of the road records from the present back to the beggining >can be fairly accurate, and once you begin to include surveyors records you >can fairly well pinpoint an old homestead. You gotta remember, these folks >wouldn't go out and make or particularly change a road for fun. They had >to be prodded by the authorities to stop farming or 'resting' to go out and >clear land for a new road. So once a road was laid-off, I don't believe it >was changed very often. I suspect current roads are fairly close to the >original roads with only minor changes. Roads that were 'declassified' >because of lack of use, were just left to be reclaimed by nature, but you >may still find evidence of their original route. Wonder how they marked >the 'Mile Trees'. > >Hope this helps, > >Dave >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >--------- >At 08:22 AM 7/18/99 -0500, Lillie Cotham wrote: >>Dave, >>You have renewed my hope of finding where my Matheny relatives lived. >>After visiting the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, I had given up hope of >>finding the location. I was planning on looking at deeds. Now I will >>look at the Court Minutes. I see you have done much research, a lot >>ahead of my 2+ years, in this area. Would you happen to know if the >>roads are still named the same now as then. For those of you who haven't >>been there, this is strictly country, even to an old life-time country >>girl. >>Lillie >> >> >>==== DanvilleCrossing Mailing List ==== >>GENEALOGY is like Hide & Seek: >>They Hide & I Seek !! >> > > >==== DanvilleCrossing Mailing List ==== >My family tree must have been used for Firewood !!! > >