There were many settlers in the Claiborne County area, that came between 1794 and 1806, that could not get clear titles to their land until 1806 or afterward. Clearly there were earlier settlers in the northeast and southern parts of the counties that came from the Holston Valley and upper Powell Valley even before then. Title problems were due to legal hold ups in the new state of Tennessee, formed in 1796, regarding the Indian land and the price that had to be paid for it, due to existing Federal laws. Most of this was not cleared up by the state laws until 1806. Many researchers don't realize this and when they see the 1806 dates on the deeds, they confuse this with the year of migration to the county. It can clearly be established they were here sometimes ten years, or more, before receiving a clear title to the land they lived on. This was true especially with the Henderson Grant lands in the lower part of Powell Valley and Clinch Valley. Although the land was granted and surveyed in 1786 from North Carolina for the Richard Henderson company, the United States would not recongize the grant as being legal because of conflicts with existing Indian treaties. The original survey was shown to be in HAWKINS County, North Carolina; and is among some of the more curious documents I have attained on the early county formations. The Indian line fell in Claiborne County and many of the new settlers were considered outlaws by the Feds because they lived on the wrong side of the line. There were attempts to remove them, even if it had to come thru force from the US Army. Their descendants are still there today, thanks given to the skillful negotiations of Gov. John Sevier. There was also some confusion to exactly where the Virginia and Tennessee line was to be established on the part of the county east of Cumberland Gap. I have heard that there were some people confused as to where the state line fell. I have also viewed maps that indicated this problem. This was cleared up before Tennessee because a state when North Carolina and Virginia sent a survey crew to extend their lines thru to the Cumberland Gap. The line was supposed to be a perfect straight line from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but when you look at the border between Tennessee and Kentucky/Virginia, you see their were several compromised made to satisfy the boundary surveyors. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Spradling, A Thomas" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 8:42 PM Subject: FW: [TNCLAIBO-L] Re: Maps of Powell's Valley? > Steve: this is great information below. I have some ancestors and nearby > families I've been tracing and trying to connect together that moved from > Henry Co. VA to Lee Co. Va ca 1796...both families ended up in Mulberry > Gap > area of Claiborne Co. TN ca 1803-5....original deeds for them on Mulberry > Creek signed 1806-8. > > I wonder if you might know if Mulberry Gap area was ever considered to be > in > Lee Co. vA. I've read in some places that the VA/TN boundary line was > adjusted several times...so I'm wondering if they might have been living > in > the same location the entire time, just recorded on different county tax > lists and county deed records, due to the boundary changes....? > > Thanks, > > Tom Spradling > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Steve Smith > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 1:24 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [TNCLAIBO-L] Re: Maps of Powell's Valley? > > > Gary, > Powell Valley is the first valley in the Greater Tennessee Valley area, > east of the Cumberland Mountains. The range lies along the Cumberland > Mountain and begins on the north end at Big Stone Gap, Wise County, > Virginia and travels in a Southwest direction down along the mountain > range > thru Lee County, Virginia and then into Claiborne County, Tennessee until > it > > stops at the Cross Mountain near Caryville, Campbell County, Tennessee. > The > > Powell Valley is approximately 100 miles long and varies in width, maybe > an > average of 3 to 7 miles wide, depending on what you define as it's > boundaries. The Powell river runs thru most of it in the Virginia area > and > is separated from the main valley floor in Tennessee by the Dividing > Ridge. > If your ancestor was moving there in 1794, most likely he was moving into > the upper valley area in Virginia. Most of the Tennessee part of the > valley > > was still under Cherokee ownership until 1798. There were some settlers > on > the Tennessee side around the Cumberland Gap area, but it was a very > dangerous area until the 1798 treaty with the Cherokee. I would check > with > the tax records of LEE County, Virginia, formed in 1794. Before that date > it was RUSSELL County. Wise County was formed much later. Claiborne > County, Tennessee was formed in 1801, from Grainger, which was formed in > 1796 from Hawkins. It should be easy to find maps on the internet of the > Powell Valley, but as you can see from the size of it, you would need to > know an approximate starting point to look. Most everyone living in the > Powell Valley in 1794 and before was located near a fort of some type for > protection against the Indians. > Steve Smith > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Gary Brown" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 1:35 PM > Subject: [TNCLAIBO-L] Re: Maps of Powell's Valley? > > >> Dear Claiborne researchers, >> >> I am trying to locate the land of an ancestor, Henry Sumper, >> in hopes of finding his burial site. >> I recently received a deposition he gave in Virginia, circa 1794, >> where he states he was moving to "Powell's Valley." Anyone have >> information on this area? Advice on where to find maps, etc.? >> Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. >> >> Stacey Brown >> >> >> >> ==== TNCLAIBO Mailing List ==== >> Please leave Roll Calls up to the discretion of the listowner!! >> Please visit the CLAIBORNE COUNTY PIONEER PROJECT at: >> http//freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ccpp/pioneer/index.htm >> >> --- >> [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] >> >> >> > > > > ==== TNCLAIBO Mailing List ==== > If you are having any difficulties with the list please contact the list > owner Pamela Burnette at: [email protected] > Visit the CLAIBORNE COUNTY PIONEER PROJECT at: > http//freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ccpp/pioneer/index.htm > we have over 95,000 folks from the county identified and waiting for you > to > find them. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Notice: This e-mail message, together with any attachments, contains > information of Merck & Co., Inc. 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