---------- > From: Rn99 <rn99@kingman.com> > To: NCORANGE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: LAND TRANSACTION RESEARCHERS > Date: Monday, December 01, 1997 8:21 AM > > Are there any professional researchers in the Orange County area who have > access to the original documents for Orange County land transactions prior > to about 1800 or 1800? > Robert Nicholson, Kingman, AZ > <rn99@kingman.com> Hi Robert I was intrigued with your query. In the 1970s, A. B. Markam, of Durham, NC, did a remarkable job of ploting the original land grants of Orange County on a map. Markham is dead now and the NC Archives is the only place I know that has a complete copy of his map. Unfortunately, Markham only included the grants in the part of the county east of about Hillsborough. My Austin ancestors were in the western part of Orange and, for years, I have been augmenting Markham's map with the plots of grants in the western part of the county. I am still in the process of putting the pieces together. It's like a jig-saw puzzle and I am continuously amazed at how surveys do not close and wonder how any of the early inhabitants of Orange every really knew where they lived. Specifically, to answer your question. The best source of information on early Orange land records is a series of books written and self published by William Doub Bennett of Rocky Mount, NC. For each grant and/or deed, Bennett quotes all the pertinent land metes and bounds, dates of survey, dates of issue, names of surveyors and chain carrier, wittnesses, etc. Also included are the hand drawn plots of the surveys made by the surveyors at the time of the survey. Bennett's books include the Granville grants, NC grant 1-1000, Deed Books from Book 1 on up. Not living in Raleigh and having access to the original records, I have found these books indispensible in my research. The FHC in Salt Lake has Bennett's book and I'm sure the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne also has a set. If you are interested here is how to get more information; William Doub Bennett 1804 Lafayette Avenue Rocky Mount, NC 27803 Hope this helps. Incidently, we are practicxally neighbors. I am in Las Vegas, Nevada. P. S. To other Orange researchers. I do not have a complete copy of Markham's map so can't answer any questions pertaining to it. Harold Austin Steiner (Hal) hsteiner@anv.net ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1500 databases on line