![VIRGINIA -- RUSSELL COUNTY SURVEYS. Surveys of Russell County by the Land Office Treasury of Virginia for lands belonging to Richard Smith, granted to him in 1783 [West Virginia, 1787]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2001/CKS/2001_CKS_06456_0080_000(030311).jpg?w=1)
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VIRGINIA -- RUSSELL COUNTY SURVEYS. Surveys of Russell County by the Land Office Treasury of Virginia for lands belonging to Richard Smith, granted to him in 1783 [West Virginia, 1787]
A collection of 52 manuscript maps on bifolia, in brown and black ink, and blue, green, red and yellow wash, each with compass rose, boundaries defined by tree symbols, the whole within yellow ruled border, with relating manuscript survey written on the facing side in brown ink, with general folding map of the Clinch River area (some edges worn, very occasional light browning, some contemporary erasures and overwriting of boundary co-ordinates causing minor loss of paper). Contained within a contemporary calf-backed portfolio, paper label to upper cover inscribed, 'Map & Letters American Property' (spine slightly torn, worn).
A fascinating series of surveys and highly attractive maps, offering a rare insight into the settlement of colonists in Virginia, soon after the War of Independence. The lands surveyed here cover an area of 348,723 acres, and are divided into tracts of 10,000, 5,000 acres or smaller, each tract with its own map, warrant and description of boundaries, together with 'Remarks by the Surveyor ... (given in his own Languague)'. These observations form a picture of colonial life, with comments on the quality of the soil, types and quality of timber, types of crops and other produce grown, with details of settlements and farms, the streams, creeks, springs and rivers and their suitability for mills or other kinds of 'waterworks', together with wildlife found in the woods 'such as Deer, Buffalo, Turkies, Elkes, Beavers and Foxes'. One particular tract is highly praised: 'The soil..is exceeding good, deep & rich...I take it to be the best Tract ... it is clear of any claims, level, rich, & fine in every respect, nearly all first rate land...for.. Indian Corn, Tobacco, Cotton, Flax or Hemp it will produce Equal to any Land in the United States..'
Richard Smith (1734-1818) married into the Vassall family who were shipowners and traders on the East coast of America in the 17th and 18th centuries, having first settled in America in 1592. Smith's wife, Lucretia Frances Vassall (d.1825) was the daughter of William Vassall (1715-1800) who had an estate near Bristol, Rhode Island, and was a prominent loyalist, forced to flee during the War of Independence. An 1806 indenture shows that Smith had moved back to England, to Islington in Middlesex, and that he had rented his lands out to American tenants. (53)
A collection of 52 manuscript maps on bifolia, in brown and black ink, and blue, green, red and yellow wash, each with compass rose, boundaries defined by tree symbols, the whole within yellow ruled border, with relating manuscript survey written on the facing side in brown ink, with general folding map of the Clinch River area (some edges worn, very occasional light browning, some contemporary erasures and overwriting of boundary co-ordinates causing minor loss of paper). Contained within a contemporary calf-backed portfolio, paper label to upper cover inscribed, 'Map & Letters American Property' (spine slightly torn, worn).
A fascinating series of surveys and highly attractive maps, offering a rare insight into the settlement of colonists in Virginia, soon after the War of Independence. The lands surveyed here cover an area of 348,723 acres, and are divided into tracts of 10,000, 5,000 acres or smaller, each tract with its own map, warrant and description of boundaries, together with 'Remarks by the Surveyor ... (given in his own Languague)'. These observations form a picture of colonial life, with comments on the quality of the soil, types and quality of timber, types of crops and other produce grown, with details of settlements and farms, the streams, creeks, springs and rivers and their suitability for mills or other kinds of 'waterworks', together with wildlife found in the woods 'such as Deer, Buffalo, Turkies, Elkes, Beavers and Foxes'. One particular tract is highly praised: 'The soil..is exceeding good, deep & rich...I take it to be the best Tract ... it is clear of any claims, level, rich, & fine in every respect, nearly all first rate land...for.. Indian Corn, Tobacco, Cotton, Flax or Hemp it will produce Equal to any Land in the United States..'
Richard Smith (1734-1818) married into the Vassall family who were shipowners and traders on the East coast of America in the 17th and 18th centuries, having first settled in America in 1592. Smith's wife, Lucretia Frances Vassall (d.1825) was the daughter of William Vassall (1715-1800) who had an estate near Bristol, Rhode Island, and was a prominent loyalist, forced to flee during the War of Independence. An 1806 indenture shows that Smith had moved back to England, to Islington in Middlesex, and that he had rented his lands out to American tenants. (53)
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