Has anyone seen or have a copy of the plat of Alex. Faires' land mentioned below? Jim Faires http://src1.cas.sc.edu/dept2/iss/SCNames/index.php?action=showPage&book=1&vo lume=4&page=1 "In the Winter 1956 edition of Names in South Carolina readers are invited to submit information on various places, the name of one being India Hook Road in York County. "We have found several references to a name which is obviously the source for the name `India Hook Road.' In the Surveyor's Plat Book and Indian Com- missioner Rent Book there is a plat of Alex. Fairies's land which is partly bound by "mdi Hook Branch," flowing into the Catawba River. This plat is dated 1813. Another plat, dated 1816, shows `a piece of land laid off . . . from land formerly John Faris'es near Indian Hooke Shoals.' These two references are the earliest of which we have any record. We assume that `India Hook Branch,' a shallow bit of water with- in the `Indian Land,' was the origin of the name in use today. We shall be interested to learn other infor- mation or any corroboration of our assumption.

Jim, I'll send you a scan of the plat directly as attachments can't reach the mail list. Alexander Faries (1740-1824) and his wife Janet (James) Faries (1745-1825) came down to the Carolinas about 1778 and settled near the line between the colonies of North & South Carolina. The surviving Surveyor's Plat Book and Indian Commissioner's Rent Book was kept by Hugh White, one of the commissioners, and inherited by his descendant Miss Zoe White of Fort Mill, SC. She allowed photostatic copies of the book to be made by the South Carolina Archives and one copy was made for the Rock Hill Public Library (now York County Library). The Rent Book section shows Alexander Faries' sons Jesse & William as the holders of the leased land after Alexander died in 1824. Alex's name is crossed out and Jessee & Wm. is written over it. The plat is a drawing of the boundaries of the 744 acres. It shows the Catawba River as the southern boundary and the meandering "Indi hook Branch" going back & forth over the western line. Various boundary trees and stakes are indicated along the lines of the plat. Written across the drawn map: "Alex'r Faries's Platt 744 acres" The following text appears below the drawn map: So Carolina } York District } The above platt represents a tract or parcel of land the same being Indian Land and lying in the Indian boundary and hath Such Shape and Form as the platt above Shows and was resurveyed for Alex'r Faries Sen'r. by John Faries Surveyor August 12th 1812. And lease has been granted thereon to Alex'r Faries this 2nd June 1813 Test' George Massey } Thos. Robertson } S.C.I.N. H White} [End of text below the plat.] Please note that this plat is described by the surveyor as a "re-survey", meaning there may have been earlier plats that had to be redrawn as the tract decreased or increased in size as parts were subleased to others or additional tracts were added. However, no such earlier plats survive. The Catawba Indian leases changed hands a good deal. Alexander's son- in-law Samuel Dunsmore had an Indian lease and his former lease passed to others in the family. Alexander's son John Faries died in 1815 and his land was bought by Alexander Faries and Alsey Fuller. Alex's son John was NOT the surveyor who continued to work until 1822 and died in 1825. The lease holders often controlled scattered tracts within the Indian boundary. There were sub-leases to others for cash and some leases passed by inheritance. Louise Pettus has published an excellent study of the leases called "Leasing Away a Nation". An appendix at the end lists all of the leaseholders she has been able to identify and a little info about their leases that she found through years of research in the Catawba Indian files at the South Carolina State Archives in Columbia, SC. She tells that there was another lease book for the other side of the Catawba River, but it was lost in a fire when the Indian agent's home burned. The records for some of those other leases can be partially reconstructed with the plat books for the 1840's when the State of South Carolina made a treaty with the Catawbas and converted the leases into state land grants. Only a few of the leases are mentioned in York Co., SC, deed records, primarily because the leases were not considered real estate. The holders did not own the land, but in practice many lease holders treated the land as though they did own it. Regards, Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: AsaFaires To: FARRIS-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 6:36 PM Subject: [FARRIS] Indian Hook-Alex m. Jennet Faires Has anyone seen or have a copy of the plat of Alex. Faires' land mentioned below? Jim Faires