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McDowell & Tazewell County Sims Index

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Profiles

  • Milton French Auville (1882 - 1937)
    death/obit: Bluefield Daily Telegraph 14 Mar 1937, Sun ·Page 20
  • Nancy Jane Bean (1832 - 1911)
    according to Family search she had the following siblings: Jackson Reed b.c 1831 married Charlotte Reed (born Maynard) John Linsey Reed b. Mar 11 1834 married Pricey Kennedy Daniel Reed b. Oct...
  • Amanda Jane Ratcliff (1891 - 1968)
    in death notice: see children... sold 56 acres on the Dry Fork of the Tug McDowell County back to her father in July 1929 bk 114 pg 115 Grantee index this was part of Jesse & Nancy Jane Bean's legacy, ...
  • John Lindsey Reed (1834 - bef.1887)
    ~• Look closely at the 1870 census of the Sandy River District. Jackson, John, and Nancy Jane are siblings. Together each family owned vast tracts of land (McDowell Co. records). This leads us to wonde...
  • Hezikiah K. Ousley, Sr. (c.1810 - c.1890)
    merg with Hezekiah Woosley 836 of 867 in Sims Index purchased 2 parcels 1. 50 acres on the Dry Fork (1847) & 2. 40 acres on the Dry Fork (1849) (future McDowell County WV) McDowell County descenda...

See pages 440-442 inclusive of 867 on ancestry dot com
"Sims index to land grants in West Virginia"
Tazewell once comprised land that became a separate county (McDowell)
This project started in focusing on what is now McDowell County
Add profiles from the 19th century.
As deed references mostly mention stream locations, it is suggested that researchers go to the tagged project (McDowell County) to read a list of the stream along the Dry Fork of the Tug River.

Background

Land Grants were made by Lord Fairfax prior to the establishment of the Virginia Land Office.
for the then counties of Virginia which included modern West Virginia. ~• we read elsewhere
Through purchase and inheritance this land was consolidated by Thomas, Lord Fairfax. The land consisted of over 5.2 million acres, located between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, and stretching into what is now West Virginia. Beginning in 1690, land grants could be purchased from the agents of the proprietor.
This must have been and earlier Lord Fairfax as Thomas started granting land in the 1690's.

How about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Fairfax,_8th_Lord_Fairfax_of_Ca... ? (1736-1802)

Land Records in the Sims Index

there are at least three sections

refer to the region we know as McDowell County in the 21st century

first

it was part of TAZEWELL COUNTY. Many of the entries in this list became McDowell
see starting at 818 of 867 and look for familiar place names. The list continues through 835 of 867 and covers the early years of McDowell: This includes the early 1800s
I highlight the largest acreages:

Large acreage

second

Counties broken out..only McDowell is pertinent to this project. These are for the mid 1800s
~• See pages 440-442 inclusive of 867 on ancestry dot com
"Sims index to land grants in West Virginia"
continues
Barbour pg 7
Brooke pg 41
Calhoun pg 80
Clay pg 81
Doodridge pg 81
Fayette pg 87
Gilmer pg 94
Greenbriar pg 106
Hancock pg 243
Harrison pg 271
Jackson pg 336
Hardy pg 243
Jefferson pg 346
Kanawha pg 347
Lewis pg 372
Logan pg 389
Marshall pg 428
Mason pg 430
Mc Dowell pg 440 see also the McDowell County Project to help match surnames. I, for one add early McDowell residents to that project. These can be cross-referenced here through addition. icn_check.gif

~• surnames in McDowell (simplified). The dates of the deeds ranged from 1860-1862 and the Book/Page from 1/455 to 1/572

Bagby
Barnett
Beavers
Bentley
Brewster
Brittain
Bruster
Cartwright
Cecil
Charles
Cline
Collins

Michael, Edward, Jacob, John of John, William of John

Cox
Doak
George
Gibson
Harman
Harrison
Hicks
Jackson
Justus
King
Lambert
Lawson
Marrs
Mitchell
Moore
Murphy
O'Dell
Parker
Payne eg. John D. Payne 500 acres on Ring's Branch
Perry
Smith
Steel
Trent
Wallis
Lalrond
Webb
White
Wilhite
Williams

~• missing are those grants that came earlier (for instance: near Ring's Branch = John Wesley Reed, (CSA) who started accumulating parcels in 1848. See his timeline. He is among the first section mentioned above.

third

McDowell Land Grants pick up again in the same Volume on page 849 of 867 and continue to 851. The years comprise 1867-1870

helpful sources