If you want to read a second hand account heard from first hand participants in the life of Western PA in the late 1770-1780s, check this document out. It contains the story of the disputed Washington lands from a very personal perspective. I transcribed this document and have done first hand research both in the National Archives and the Library of Congress on the entries in George Washington's diaries we related the first hand accounts of the dispute between Pennsylvania Land Patents and Virginia Deeds for the same property and how the dispute was finally handled in the First District Court in Philadelphia. A couple of years ago my wife (whose lineage this is -- Bigger/Donaldson/McBride) visited Mount Vernon were the docent began relating to the tour group that we were in that at one point in his life George Washington needed cash to run his plantation on the Potomac and so he sold lands in Western PA. I asked if she would like to hear the whole story. She nodded yes but when I began to tell how 12 families were put of the land that they had purchased legally from Gen Grogan who fought in the French-Indian War. They spend a little over seven years clearing and developing the land and building homes and barns ect. Then George shows up--and well you can read in this account what happened. Les Peine http://www.chartiers.com/pages-new/articles/bigger.html ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pamela J. Nixon" <pnixon15378@yahoo.com> To: <harjodon@yahoo.com>; "Mailing List Washington Cty, PA" <pawashin@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 11:32 AM Subject: Re: [PAWASHIN] Research question > Donny, > About a month ago, I asked a similar question on another list > concerning Virginia land certificates of Pennsylvania lands during the > time both Pennsylvania and Virginia were claiming this area of > southwestern Pennsylvania. I received the following very through reply > from a Mr. Neil McDonald. I thought you might find this information > useful. > > Pam & all, > > A warm hello to any remaining friends here, I haven't been around my > favorite all-time list for a long time but the subject posting at another > list piqued my interest that resulted in my return: > > Many sw-PA frontiersmen migrated from Maryland and Virginia, including an > exit from the Great South Branch of the Potomac River 'Manor' (within > Hampshire County, VA-WV formed 1754) after the F&I War, mostly after 1769 > when the Penns opened their land office (in Philadelphia) for their land > offer in sw-PA. Included in this migration were my direct ancestor,Joseph > McDonald, and his son, Valentine b. 11 Jan 1760 in the above 'manor' (per > his RW records), who according to PA Archives, served in Rev War from > Westmoreland Co. PA 1777-1778 (from its area that became Fayette County in > 1783.) > > Yes, Virginia was also claiming part of the same sw-PA area as theirs and > sold acreage via 'Virginia Certificates' for much less than the Penns were > charging. A major rift between at least some Virginians and those faithful > to the Penns neared open conflict in the 1770's. But, it seems not nearly > all Virginians purchased land via VC's, they were most common in areas on > the 'west' side of the Monongahela River. > > Many petitions to form a new state of Westsylvania in the disputed area > were circulated during the 1770's in an attempt to avoid such conflict. > The 'final' boundary line agreed to in 1779 did not end the dispute which > redeveloped in earnest after the Rev War and it was not until 1784 that a > permanent surveyed line was affirmed. One of these original > petitions(undated) for forming the new state still exists in the Library > of Congress. Petitioners include Jonathan NIXON (in case you don't have > this, Pam) along with other names I recognize as common to Georges Twp, > Fayette Co. PA. > > These petitions became so many that the State of Pennsylvania > passed a bill in 1782 claiming such action was treason and laying out > punishment to anyone who furthered their circulation. The list of names in > the petition is from _The Ten Mile Country and its Pioneer Families by > Howard L. Leckey, first published by Waynesburg Republican May 25, 1950. > > Pam, note when Jonathan sold his land, there were lots of things going on > in sw-PA at the time including end of RW and much growth and societal > sophistication; see Harper's book below that addresses this among many > other items of interest. As Harper relates, many folks left the area via > flatboats, that included my ancestors and neighbors, during the high-water > days of autumn in 1790, flatboating down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers > to Maysville, KY and then across the river into Northwest Territory > c1796, the area that later became Brown Co. OH. Many other > Southwest-Pennsylvanians did the same or stayed in KY. > > '-If-' Jonathan Nixon does not appear on the 1772 tax lists (I didn't > check), and since Westmoreland was formed in 1773, this should narrow your > search as to when Jonathan Nixon arrived in the area, and when he likely > purchased land soon thereafter, or at least began improvements. Similarly, > all I can deduce for my ancestors is that they arrived between 1773 (when > Westmoreland County was formed) and 1777 (when Valentine first served in > Rev War from Westmoreland County under Capt. Zadoch Springer, of the later > Georges Twp area, serving at Prickett's Fort in VA/WV at age 17.) > > No stigma was apparently attached to land purchased via Virginia > Certificates as such land claims seemed to have been readily accepted by > neigboring landowners for the most part and the State of PA for their land > patenting process after 1784. The purchase price, and from whom the land > was purchased, was apparently not important so long as everyone paid their > fair share of PA taxes. (See the URL below for more info on this.) > > As to the question about researching Virginia Certificate record sources, > I can only offer the following: > http://books.google.com/books?id=wy0Zzal8AzUC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=location+of+%22virginia+certificate%22+records&source=web&ots=Pnd1CDJVLo&sig=iBTcIl9FiNVKAYEZxDBZYogwz-Y#PPA135,M1 > Pages 133-135. (You may need to cut & paste this link into your browser as > I posted this in 'plain text.') > > Those who find land records for their ancestors should feel fortunate. > Many frontier settlers did not own land, such as more than 50% in many > townships of Fayette County and others of Southwestern PA during > 1770-1800, breaking the myth that most frontiersmen by far were > land-owning farmers. > See: _The Transformation of Western Pennsylvania 1770-1800_ by Dr. R. > Eugene Harper, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991, a very interesting > read including much info about the area of Westmoreland County and its > successor, Fayette. IMHO, the high number of 'landless' frontiersmen is > most likely true as well for earlier frontier areas on the east side of > the mountains in colonial times, but subject to confirmation by > historians. > > Dr. Harper's book certainly helps to better understand the categories of > taxed people and their personal lives for those interested in researching > PA tax records for ancestors during the 1770-1800 era. > > Hope this helps a little, or is maybe of some interest to other > researchers as well. History knowledge seems a must in order to better > understand the lives of our ancestors and where their documented data is > likely recorded. Simply seeking names & dates on the internet is a > problematic exercise fraught with errors and lacking documentation. > > Neil McDonald > > > > --------------------------------- > Never miss a thing. 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