Pine Barrens speculation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From 1789 to 1796, Georgia governors George Walton, Edward Telfair and George Mathews, while in office made gifts of three times as much land as Georgia then contained. In Montgomery County alone with an area of 407,680 acres (1,650 km²), three men received gifts totalling 2,664,000 acres (10,780 km²). All the grants given in Montgomery County totalled 7,436,995 acres (30,096 km²). In all 29,097,866 acres (117,755 km²) of land were granted in counties that consisted of only 8,717,960 acres (35,280 km²). While single grants were limited to a maximum of 1,000 acres (4 km²) per person, multiple 1,000 acre (4 km²) grants were given to individuals.

The Pine Barrens Speculation is often conflated with the Yazoo land scandal which occurred at about the same time and also involved corrupt land deals in Georgia.

[edit] Further reading

  • Abbe, Mary Hoit. Georgia Colonial and Headright Plat Index, 1735-1866 [electronic resource] (2005).
  • Cadle, Farris W. Georgia Land Surveying History and Law (1991). Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press.

[edit] Large Pine Barrens Land Grants

The following is a list of individuals granted 100,000 acres (400 km²) or more during the Pine Barrens Speculation and is based on unpublished original research by Paul K. Graham (used with permission).

  1. Adam Alford, land in Montgomery County, 209,000 acres (846 km²)
  2. Martin Anderson, land in Montgomery County, 101,000 acres (409 km²)
  3. William Baxter, land in Montgomery County, 300,000 acres (1214 km²)
  4. Daniel Bealle, land in Franklin County, 247,773 acres (1003 km²)
  5. Jonathan Black, land in Montgomery County, 327,000 acres (1323 km²)
  6. John Blanton, land in Franklin County, 142,752 acres (578 km²)
  7. James Bowie, land in Washington County, 130,776 acres (529 km²)
  8. Joseph Bryant, land in Camden County, 135,000 acres
  9. Robert Camell, land in Montgomery County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  10. Curtis Coleman, land in Washington County, 234,035 acres
  11. John Collier, land in Franklin County, 200,091 acres
  12. Robert Comens, land in Montgomery County, 253,000 acres
  13. Joseph Cooper, land in Montgomery County, 374,000 acres
  14. Thomas Cooper, land in Montgomery County, 277,000 acres
  15. Patrick Crookshanks, land in Washington County, 237,000 acres
  16. John Cunningham, land in Franklin County, 102,878 acres
  17. Thomas Davis, land in Washington County, 358,700 acres
  18. Thomas Davison, land in Montgomery County, 341,000 acres
  19. Richard Dawson, land in Washington County, 485,600 acres
  20. Richmond Dawson, land in Franklin County, 130,000 acres
  21. Richmond Dawson, land in Montgomery County, 731,700 acres
  22. Gideon Dennison, land in Liberty County, 149,523 acres
  23. John Diamond, land in Franklin County, 700,838 acres
  24. Nathaniel Durkee, land in Franklin County, 197,845 acres
  25. William Farmer, land in Franklin County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  26. Thomas Fields, land in McIntosh County, 125,000 acres
  27. Thomas Flournoy, land in Washington County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  28. Gardner & Gilbert (partnership), land in Franklin County, 200,00 acres
  29. John Garret, land in Camden County, 189,721 acres
  30. Henry Garrett, land in Franklin County, 190,000 acres
  31. Randal Griffin, land in Montgomery County, 200,000 acres (800 km²)
  32. Joseph Grizard, land in Montgomery County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  33. John Harrington, land in Franklin County, 182,853 acres
  34. Michael Henderson, land in Montgomery County, 287,000 acres
  35. Isaac Hill, land in Montgomery County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  36. John Hopper, land in Franklin County, 140,000 acres
  37. John Howell, land in Glynn County, 289,000 acres
  38. John W. Hunter, land in Camden County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  39. Robert Jackson, land in Camden County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  40. Walter Jackson, land in Montgomery County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  41. John Jameson, land in Camden County, 128,000 acres
  42. Joseph B. Jones, land in Franklin County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  43. Benjamin Kitchen, land in Washington County, 189,594 acres
  44. Freeman Lewis, land in Glynn County, 308,500 acres
  45. John Marcus, land in Effingham County, 105,750 acres
  46. William Maubray, land in Camden County, 109,000 acres
  47. David McCormack, land in Montgomery County, 100,000 acres (400 km²)
  48. William McIntosh Junr., land in Glynn County, 336,000 acres
  49. William McKissack, land in Montgomery County, 246,000 acres
  50. Robert Middleton, land in Washington County, 133,875 acres
  51. James Montfort, land in Liberty County, 267,422 acres
  52. George Nailor, land in Franklin County, 119,450 acres
  53. William Neel, land in Montgomery County, 154,800 acres
  54. William Neill, land in Montgomery County, 166,000 acres (same person as William Neel)
  55. Ferdinand O'Neal, land in Glynn County, 255,006 acres
  56. Leroy Pope, land in Franklin County, 104,000 acres
  57. Thomas Putnam, land in Montgomery County, 120,000 acres
  58. William R. Reddick, land in Camden County, 125,000 acres
  59. Charles Ryan, land in Effingham County, 212,469 acres
  60. Joseph Ryan, land in Effingham County, 107,405 acres
  61. Joseph Ryan, land in Washington County, 210,000 acres
  62. James Sartain, land in Montgomery County, 102,235 acres
  63. James Sartin, land in Montgomery County, 198,000 acres (same as James Sartain)
  64. James Shorter, land in Montgomery County, 1,219,000 acres
  65. John Smith, land in Franklin County, 179,329 acres
  66. John Smith, land in Montgomery County, 100,943 acres
  67. Thomas Smyth Junr., land in Franklin County, 128,176 acres
  68. John Spikes, land in Montgomery County, 368,000 acres
  69. Francis Tennill, land in Washington County, 275,930 acres
  70. Micajah Vasser, land in Montgomery County, 470,000 acres
  71. Edward Walsh, land in McIntosh County, 112,000 acres