Hi Fran, That Henry McCulloh was such a rascally rabbit. Obviously nepotism was alive and flourishing in this neck of the woods. Henry McCulloh was a relative of Governor Johnston and held three grants totaling 190,000 acres (nothing is mentioned about sharing with 400 Scots-Irish, - in fact nothing is said about sharing with even 1 small Scots-Irish). FROM # 3 (truly fascinating) Since the influx of Scotsmen commenced shortly after the royalization of the colony in 1729, the disposal of unclaimed lands was the responsibility of crown officials. According to Board of Trade regulations, the governor, in consultation with the council (i.e., the "governor in council"), authorized grants of land. Instructions to the first royal governors specified that persons desiring plots were to appear before meetings of the "governor in council" to prove their right to obtain land. But the infrequency of council meetings and the inconvenience of traveling long distances to attend them, obstructed the land-granting process and encouraged squatting. To make land more available to the people, Governor Gabriel Johnston and his council in 1741 delegated the power to prove land rights to the several county courts, where the inhabitants "could more conveniently attend and the number of the Familys could be more easily known." The new settler, after finding a plot of unclaimed land, appeared with his family (servants and slaves included, if he had any) at the meeting of the county court. When the findings of the court were submitted to the governor's secretary, a warrant for the appropriate of acres in the given county was issued. The precinct surveyor, upon receiving the warrant, marked out the stated number of acres on the chosen plot and returned a description of the site to the auditor's office. After the payment of fees and the routine approval by the "governor in council," the settler received a land grant. There were, of course abuses in the granting of lands. It was a policy to grant a "right" to a person each time he entered the colony. One colonist, James Minge, crossed the border of the colony six times and his slave, Robin, crossed it four times. Minge then claimed ten head rights. Some grantees stretched their grants along the river, thus monopolizing the rich bottom lands. This practice ceased after surveyors were ordered "to take care that not above one fourth part of the land granted shall border upon the river, that is - - - there shall be four chains in depth backwards for every chain in front." In North Carolina there were a few grants of large plots of land to English speculators. Those large grants that were made were granted by the Board of Trade, not by North Carolina officials. It is true that Henry McCulloh, a relative of Governor Johnston, held three grants totaling 190,000 acres. This was, however, contrary to the usual policy. The Board of Trade instructed the royal governors to disallow single grants larger than 640 acres. North Carolina was a colony of small landholders. Fran, this is just one "pearl" in this book. It may be that, as I read further, we'll discover that Henry McCulloh was overcome with remorse and guilt at his huge land holdings and donated everything to charity. Yeah, right. Dee -----Original Message----- From: Fred Powell, Sr. <fpowellsr@starpower.net> To: NCDUPLIN-L@rootsweb.com <NCDUPLIN-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Sunday, December 19, 1999 2:10 PM Subject: Scots-Irish in Duplin >Hi Listmembers! > >I have read that one Henry MCCULLOUGH obtained title to some seventy >thousand acres in the 1730's. These acres were located in/near Northeast >Cape Fear, Neuse River and Black River in Duplin Co. Around 1736 >approximately 400 Scots-Irish settled on these acres. > >Question: Can anyone direct me to a source for obtaining names/origins of >these Scots-Irish? > >Thank you. > >Fran fpowellsr@starpower.net > >