Renea or anyone, I have some questions about use of DECATUR COUNTY name before 1845. First, my questions, then below the section I find confusing from a West Tennessee District Grant, dates in the Grant range from 1833 to 1846. QUESTIONS: If Decatur County became a county in 1845, why would name DECATUR COUNTY have been used in GRANT recorded by "Entrytaker of Decatur County" in 1833? Since it was 1833, shouldn't the county be PERRY? Under witness section of the GRANT was date 28 AUG 1846 and signed by Governor Aaron Brown and Secretary of State [TN] Jno. Young Was the person applying for grant of land not legally entitled to the LAND until State of TN passed the act in 1842? The section of the GRANT that I find confusing: GRANT # 2132 Know ye, that for and in consideration of the sum of Twelve and one-half cents per acre, paid into the Office of the Entrytaker of DECATUR COUNTY and entered on the 17th day of OCTOBER 1833 pursuant to the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly of said State, passed on the 11th day of JANUARY, 1842, by No. 2601 THERE IS GRANTED by the said State of Tennessee, unto Thomas Hay a certain tract or parcel of land.............[it goes on] Thank you. Linda

I think the confusion of dates and county name may come from the fact that obtaining land by grant was a process that could and often did take a number of years. Your document is giving dates of all transactions and stating Decatur Co because it was Decatur County by the time the process was finalized. 1st step - Make an entry (locate) the land, there would be a description of it 2nd - A survey would be made of the land and this survey and a plat would be recorded 3rd - After all financial and legal requirements met, a grant would be issued by the state. When consulting all steps (when documents are available), you may find that one person made the initial entry, but "sold" it to someone else before survey was completed and it could have been sold again any number of times before that actual grant is issued to the latest possessor of the land. My thoughts - anyone else have a different idea ? Renea ----- Original Message ----- From: <LFLENT@aol.com> To: <TNDECATU-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 10:37 AM Subject: [TNDECATU] 1845 Decatur Co. >