Since most travel inland, and early settlement occurred along rivers, the lands along the rivers were the first claims. And in an area that was wilderness, basically, rivers were permanent points of reference. The Catawba River runs roughly north-south in the area west of Charlotte, until it reaches the area SW of Statesville, and then runs roughly westward. Anson was a very large county in the early colonial period. The list members might find this series of maps of county formation helpful. _http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/countyfm.htm_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/countyfm.htm) A detailed discussion is available in Corbitt's "The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943." As for names of creeks and streams, they can change over the years since those deeds were made. I keep Powell's "The North Carolina Gazetteer" on the shelf to the right of my desk. It is very helpful when trying to figure out where the land mentioned in deeds might be located. Anyone studying family in early colonial NC would do well to have a copy of Ramsey's "Carolina Cradle" at hand. It goes into much detail on these early settlements. I find something new of interest every time I pick it up, and I've read it from front to back. Katherine ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com