Jeanne, you say in your message below that you are wanting to learn what became of John Fife's land which was granted to him in 1800. I am by no means an expert in Kentucky or Mason Co. research; however, Bracken was formed from part of Mason in 1797, I should think subsequent land deeds for the Locust Creek area would be recorded there. Probate records for this Fife family may also reveal what happened to his land although I suspect you have researched these. Hopefully a more experienced Kentucky researcher will respond to your question, I would also like to know who made subsequent purchases within this land. Your posting shows that at least two individuals (John Fife and Nathaniel Brady) were in the process of obtaining large parcels of land on the waters of Locust Creek prior to 1792. Your posting this info is very valuable, I hesitate (only briefly) to push further. Do you perchance have any idea or leads as to where in the Locust Creek area these lands were located? These two large parcels of land (1,000 and 2,000 acres respectively) were obviously for investment or development purposes, not solely for individual use. It will be interesting to learn whether others on this list have info regarding land purchases of less acreage on the waters of Locust Creek. Ravages of Rev War inflation were indeed apparent for John Fife's land purchase, thus the expression "not worth a Continental damn" (referring to its dollar value.) While John apparently paid 400 Lb. "current money" to Virginia in 1780 (40 Virginia Lb.'s per 100 acres), Virginia sold land in the present area of southwestern Pennsylvania (re: border dispute between PA and VA) for as low as 10 shillings, or 1/2 Lb., per 100 acres in the pre-Rev War 1770's. During this time, the Penns were selling land for five PA Lb.'s per 100 acres, 10 times that of Virginia -- not considering the difference in value of the "pound" between the "states" of Virginia and Pennsylvania, both of these "state pounds" were of less value than the English Pound. The English money-naming system of pounds, shillings and pence was primarily used within the individual colonies or states for keeping financial accounts; however, debts were paid with Spanish Dollars, and its coins of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16, in those days -- or via barter of various sorts. Visit http://www.rootsquest.com/~amhisnet/topic/pamoney.html to learn more about money matters of colonial times, the PA-VA border dispute, research references and land-tax records. This link also contains data for many McDaniel-McDonald families of Bedford-Westmoreland-Fayette Co.'s PA during the 1700's, some of whom migrated to Kentucky and Ohio. My Valentine (and Joseph) McDaniel-McDonald moved families via flatboat from Fayette Co. PA to Mason Co. KY in 1790, and into Northwest Territory, the Adams-Brown-Clermont Co.'s area of Ohio in 1796-98. They had 50 and 40 acres respectively on the waters of Locust Creek in 1795 -- they were possibly living there during 1791-94. The old tax lists are not clear in this regard; however, I was told by a professional genealogist that several McD neighbors were surnames common to Bracken Co. (names were not listed for me when this research was conducted in 1984.) Jeanne, thank you for posting your valuable info, hopefully others will follow so that all of us may benefit from sharing our separate pieces of the puzzle. Neil McDonald -----Original Message----- From: Jean Shanelec <shanelec@ellsworth.net> To: KYMASON-L@rootsweb.com <KYMASON-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 8:18 PM Subject: Re: [KYMASON-L] Early Settlements or Stations - also Locust Creek >Subject: [KYMASON-L] Early Settlements or Stations - also Locust Creek > > >>It is interesting (to me) that there are no "stations" listed for the >Locust >>Creek area of present Bracken Co. KY by the following source. This area >>possibly needed more PR at the time if it were indeed settled prior to 1792 >>as most of the other referenced stations were. Has anyone found land >>records for your ancestors on "the waters of Locust Creek" in the 1790's? >>Neil McDonald > > > >12 June 1792 >By Survey for John Fife: a certain tract or parcel of land being in the >County of Mason on the waters of a large creek heading in the mountains >known by the name of Locust Creek and bounded as follows towit: etc etc to a >survey of 2000 acres made in the name of Nathaniel Brady etc. > >Records indicate the Virginia Land Office sold John Fife Treasury Warrant >#4617 on April7, 1780. This warrant authorized the surveying of 1000 acres >of unappropiated land: he paid 400 pounds current money. Although the Entry >is filed on the county level, we can determine from the Survey that the >Entry >was filed December 28, 1787. (Entries reserved specific tracts for >patenting >until the actual Survey could be made.) On June 12, 1792, W. Sudduth, >Deputy >Surveyor for Mason County, surveyed 1000 acres in Mason county for John >Fife. >Members of the surveying part were John Hamilton and Luke Hood ( chain >Carriers) and Andrew Hood (Marker). The survey was examined by H. >Lee Surveyor of Mason county. There are no assignments on the back or on >separate documents. On Feb. 10, 1800, the governor issued a Grant to John >Fife finalizing the patent . Documents were examined and the "officail" >Grant, with Governor's signature and state seal, was delivered to John W. >Howe on August 11, 1800. Fife now owned the 1000 acres. > >I would give anything to find out what happened to the above grant to John >Fife. Would these records be in Mason or Bracken County? > >Jean Fyffe Shanelec >