Looking at Samuel Nicholson's Land Records

In the early days of settlement in northeastern North Carolina where Samuel Nicholson came to live, the "Lord Proprietors" wanted to encourage settlement of their colony, so they gave land to new settlers, usually 50 acres each. If you brought someone there you also got 50 acres for bringing them.

Since the Nicholson family came around 1670, Samuel, who was born in 1665, would have still been a small child at the time. But it took almost another 25 years before they received the patent for their land, and by then, Samuel's parents had died, so as the oldest son, he received the land. There is a notice in Feb 1693/94 that six rights were certified: Christopher Nichols, Hannah his wife, Deliverance Sutton Saml. Nicholson, _____Symons, Hannah Nicolson. In that same month it was recorded that Samuel assigned one of the rights to Hannah Gosby, which was the married name of his sister Hannah Nicholson. Then in April 1694 Willm Jones proved a right for himself, then assigned it to Saml. Nicholson. So Samuel ended up with six rights, and did receive a patent for 300 acres.

Weynette Parks Haun transcribed the description in her book, Old Albemarle County North Carolina Book of Land Warrants and Surveys 1681-1706:

"begining at a beech by the side of Suttons Creek Swamp thence west twenty three degrs. North a hundred and fifty pole to a beech then North forty four degrs East three hundred and fifty poles to an oake, then East twenty three degrees South a hundred and Sixty poles to another beech by the sd. Swamp then down the sd. Swamp by various courses to the first station."

There is a map included in the back of History of Perquimans County North Carolina, by Ellen Goode Winslow. It shows where many of the original patents were and Samuel's name is on the map. It appears to be on the east side of the Perquimans River across from the current county seat, Hertford. When I visited Perquimans County in 1996, we stopped in Hertford and looked across the river. Maybe, just maybe, I was gazing at the land once owned by my ancestor.