Saturday, October 4, 2008

John HAM, 1821 Grayson County Land Grant


John HAM
1821 Grayson County Land Grant


When doing research for our book, you could find Lands Grants for Virginia on an index card at the Archives, then look up the land grant on microfilm. And not all land grants were listed on the index card, nor were other names indexed (that would have been mentioned in the land grant).
I made an entry in our volume #2 for every index card they had at the time, but it was not a complete list at the time of my research.
Thanks to the internet, things are easier today. You can search the Library of Virginia for grants by name ( http://www.lva.virginia.gov/ ).
From the main menu, select "Search Catalogs."
For example, in our Volume #2, there is a land grant listed for John HAM of Grayson County on Sep 1, 1821. (Volumes #2, Virginia, page 206) It is listed as it was on that index card at the Archives. The Library of Virginia has an image of it on line. 


Select:

- "Words Anywhere"
- then type in "John HAM Grayson County"
- then click "search"
An entry in the catalog should come up that looks like this:
#
Author Title Year Format Location/Items
(owned/checked out)
1

Ham, John. 1821 Archives

Then, just check the box, and click on "GO."
It is interesting to read, because of the details mentioned. It is also interesting because it happens at the time just before the HAM lines migrated to Ashe County, NC in 1826.
The details:
John HAM Land Grant for 300 acres in Grayson County, Virginia dated Sep 1, 1821.
(The last line mentions the date.) It also mentions a Survey done on Feb 11, 1816. Finally, it mentions the date of the Land Office Treasury Warrant #9100, issued Nov 22, 1781(?).
I have the year of the Treasury Warrant with a question mark here because it is hard to read, due to the overlapping letters and ink smear. It could be 1791, but the “9" listed elsewhere on the page does not have a “loop” at the bottom. The Treasury Warrant number (#9100) has no loop at the bottom of the “9,” so I don’t think the year would be 1791.






The year of the Warrant could be 1787, but upon magnification, I think not.
In any event, John HAM of Grayson County was born in 1780, so he should have been less than 10 years old when the Treasury Warrant was issued. When the survey was done in 1816, John would have been 36 years old. When the Land Grant was obtained in 1821, John would have been 41 years old. That tells us that the 1781(?) Treasury Warrant was probably first issued to William HAM, Sr. (John was the oldest son that we know of.).
At any rate, the Land Grant was for 300 acres, bounded by the lines of Paul BUNCH and Patience PERRY. The PERRY surname ties in with Geneva’s Ashe County HAM lines, and the BUNCH surname in Grayson County is mentioned in our book (vol #2 Virginia on page 205). David BUNCH and John BUNCH were witness to the purchase of 100 acres by William HAM (Junior) in 1820, on Brush Creek in Grayson County.
Geneva is very familiar with the area, and she has taken me to Brush Creek, among other places. She knows that part of the mountain country well, has surveyed cemeteries there, interviewed residents, and has taken me to several cemeteries of interest in the area.
In 1820, William HAM, Sr. No longer appears on the Grayson County Census records or Tax Lists, so we know that he is gone by that time. It is John HAM and William HAM who appear in the 1820 Census records for Grayson County, VA. It is son Thomas HAM who is first to migrate to Ashe County, North Carolina, and William HAM, Jr. sells this 100 acres on Brush Creek to Joseph LYNCH (or LINCH) in 1826 in order to follow Thomas HAM to Ashe County.

Further information regarding this item could be found by looking up the Survey, or Treasury Warrant.
More information about other Land Grants, deeds, and Court records, and so on are listed in our book "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC."

A transcript follows below.


John HAM
300 acres
Grayson

Thomas M. Randolph Esqr. Govenor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. To all to whom these
presents shall come greeting:
Know ye that in Conformity with a Survey made on the Eleventh day of February 1816,
by virtue of a Land Office treasury warrant Number 9100 iSsued the 22nd November 1781;
there is granted by the said Commonwealth, unto John HAM A Certain tract or parcel of
Land, Containing Three hundred Acres Situate in the County of Grayson on the waters of
New River and bounded as followeth to wit: Beginning at three white Oaks, thence North
twelve degrees East sixty poles to a Chestnut tree and two hickories East eighty two
poles to a red Oak and white Oak in Paul BUNCH's line, North thirty five degrees
East sixty poles to a red Oak sapling by a path North seventy seven degrees East
ninety eight poles CroSsing a branch to a double white Oak, South sixty degrees
East sixty eight poles to a red Oak, South fifty five degrees West forty four poles to a
white Oak near a branch, South thirty degrees West sixteen poles CroSsing a branch
to two white Oaks, Corner to Patience PERRY's line, and with her line South seventy degrees
West One hundred and forty poles to a white Oak and leaving her line, South fifteen
degrees East one hundred and twenty four poles CroSsing a branch to a white Oak near a
large rock, South twenty five degrees West seventy four poles to a white Oak
and buckeye on the bank of a branch, West One hundred and Six poles CroSsing a branch
to a white Oak on a ridge. North fifty five degrees West One hundred poles CroSsing a
branch to a Stake and thence North twenty Six degrees East One hundred and thirty poles
to the Beginning. To have and to hold the said tract or parcel of Land with its
Appurtenances, to the said John HAM and his heirs forever. In witneSs whereof
teh said Thomas M. Randolph Esqr. Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia hath hereunto
set his hand, and Caused the leSser(?) Seal of the said Commonwealth to be
affixed at Richmond, on the first day of September in the year of Our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty One and of the Commonwealth the forty sixth.

Thos. M. Randolph


citation: pg 347 Virginia State Land Office. Grants Reel 136. Sep 1, 1821 Other Format Available on microfilm. Virginia State Land Office. Grants A-Z, 1-124, reels 42-190; Virginia State Land Office. Grants 125- , reels 369-. link:







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POLL: Areas of Interest



I have a few items on my "ToDo" list, but I usually want to work on the items that I thought are among the most interesting discoveries from our book or from the HAM DNA Project.



For example, during our book presentation in Ashe County, Geneva made a joke about the origins of the name. A couple of people chuckled, but it was quickly apparent that many in the audience did not know anything about the origins of the HAM surname. I have posted a quick page to HAM Country on it, but I've thought it would be a good topic for a video as well. Maybe a good topic for the Blog Poll, I don't know. However, it is obvious that among the folks who are not on the internet, many still do not know the story behind the name.


I am currently working on video scripts for topics like the origins of the HAM surname, first HAM immigrants to America, "How To" read a phylogenetic chart, as well as how the myth of Jerome HAM got started and evolved over time. It is clear to me that the Jerome HAM myth story would take a DVD length video in order to explain that problem completely, which means it may be hard to put together for a You Tube video.




So, this month I will take a Poll on the topics of interest. The Poll may not address the needs of folks overseas, but at least I can try to get an idea of the interests of the current HAM Country visitors.


I am about out of the space that Earthlink allocates to personal web pages, so I won't be asking about additions to the HAM Country web pages.


This month, I will post Poll questions related to the topics that you might want to see on the Blog, Poll or on video.







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Moved to Ohio

I have been on a short hiatus in order to move to Ohio.



Never thought it would take so long just to move back to my home state, but one event followed another. First, I had a health problem to deal with, then my car's transmission went out the day before the move, then my car's window fell into the car door the day of the move. Leaving the window wide open (no protection from the rain). Just after the move, there was the remnants of Hurricane Ike to deal with here in Ohio. One tree fell on the power lines to the house, and another tree fell on the high voltage lines, then caught fire. No electric for nearly a week.



Also, there were the bureaucratic items to tend to, like state license plates, state driver's license, insurance, etc.



Some distractions there, and I'm not done with the paperwork for the state to state move.



I have a few video scripts in progress, but none are ready to post to You Tube. I'd like to continue working on the videos, it's fun. Perhaps I can get some shorter videos up first.
(Dial up access to the internet really puts a cramp on the longer videos, so I have to consider making videos for DVD access only.)



Not to mention that the order forms for our book "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC" had to be changed on the HAM Country web page to reflect the move.




Anyways, I hope to get back to the HAM DNA Project and put up more posts to the HAM Country Blog.






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