Can anyone out there help me a bit reading the old plats from the late 1700's in Cheraw Dist, SC? I have similar ones in Edgefiedl and Barnwell. They are drawn with references such as NE 63.46.20 on one boundry line, SE 47.23 on the next, SW 41.25 next, SE 49.40 next, SW 82.28, NW 80.12.34, SW 85.30 and lastly SW 25.33. This is an odly shaped plat of 207 Acres. Below that is says 206 and something I can't read at all. Corners are a black circle with Pine 3x0 or Post Oak 3x0, etc. Other trees are marked, such at the edge of Panther Creek. No where do I see a distance. I tried plotting that with the plotting software, but didn't get the same form. Sort of but one line didn't go right at all. Are the NE 63.46.20 type notations degrees and minutes? Or is something else included there. All help appreciated. I have several plots I need to locate and the landmarks aren't enough. Perhaps I will have to expand my number of plats. Someone posted a link the other day to a site showing lots of Old Ninety 6 plats. I accidentally deleated that. Could someone send it again. Thanks, Carolyn Brown

Ne 63.46.20 would probably not be the latitude and longitude. I have a copy of a land plat or land deed in Fairfield and it was very irregular, due the terrain of the area. Most of land in South Carolina seems to border water on its boundaries. Is there a reference to a stream, creek or waterway? Wikipedia states A plat is a map, drawn to scale, showing how a piece of land is divided into lots with streets and alleys, usually for the purpose of selling the described lots; this is known as subdivision. After a plat is filed, legal descriptions can refer to lot numbers rather than portions of sections. Plats can also legally dedicate land for road and other rights-of-way. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plat SURVEYING PRACTICES IN EARLY SOUTH CAROLINA by Louise Pettus http://www.surveyhistory.org/south_carolina_early_surveying_history.htm The English settlement of South Carolina dates back to 1670. Surveyors have been involved and a part of South Carolina's growth and associated pains since. In 1670, the streets of Charles Town settlement covered only nine acres and was surrounded by water on three sides. The Lords Proprietors, eight in number, received a grant of what is now North and South Carolina from the King of England. An elaborate plan of government and land settlement was worked out in England by the famous philosopher, John Locke. For over forty years, the colonial surveyors, who worked out of Charles Town, were affected by the decisions of the English philosopher who never set eyes on Carolina. The first settlers obtained title to the land only after going through a cumbersome process. The settler would appear before the governor and the Council to make a request for the land. The governor would then issue a warrant for the land. The warrant was taken to the secretary who recorded it. The warrant was an order to the surveyor general to make a plat of the land. The surveyor general drew up a plat and a "return of survey". The settler took these papers to the secretary who would check them against the original record and then certify the plat. A copy of the certified plat was recorded and the original plat was given to the prospective grantee. The secretary then drew up a "sealed grant" which had to be taken to the governor and to the council for their signatures. Finally, the land grant was recorded in an official register. All of the registration had to occur within ninety days of receiving the plat or the grant was void. The above article is online and may interest you. Some plats are available: http://www2.charlestoncounty.org/ If you find out if the numbers are map references or something else, maybe you could let us know. Best of luck, Gaila