Unearthing a life.....

I should add a few words here about the 1767-1770 time gap. There are a couple of instances similar to this. When I found Sterling M.'s first Land Patent in Chariton County, MO (on the BLM search site), it had an issue date about a year and a half later than the actual purchase receipt. Another cousin researcher has found even larger gaps between migration and official land-ownership amongst the ‘M.‘s who went from MO to TX in the early 1850's.

There are some speculative scenarios that could account for the 1767-1770 time gap. Perhaps Evan spent his first two to three years in Edgefield (area) working for someone -- supplementing his funds prior to engaging in farming on his own. Perhaps he rented Jesse Drake's land for a year or two before buying it outright. Perhaps the long trip to Charleston to officially verify ownership was put off till a crop had proven the land worthwhile. Or perhaps some stalling was in order to deny the King some of his quit rents.
The King's "law" did not have a good reach into the Carolina backcountry, so there may have been an attitude of "we'll do it when we get around to it." In 1767, the backcountry was just beginning to emerge from an era when "Regulators" were dealing justice - after a fashion. The Regulators were groups of settler vigilantes who had formed to combat rampant outlawry in the backcountry, but had soon become an oppressive force in their own right.

Time gaps aside, it is clear that Evan M. had removed from Saluda by 1770 and settled some twenty-eight miles to the SSW on the banks of Stephens Creek. Augusta, GA, was about twelve miles further on and across the Savannah River.

Daughter Olive/Olivia M. was born in 1772 and in 1774, Evan received a final land grant for an additional 250 acres. Now we have six children in the household, with Rachel being eleven years old, Oneas ten, Enos eight, etc.,. And Evan's land holdings have grown to 550 acres. It appears that Evan had settled in for good. The Edgefield Deed Books do not show him either buying or selling land over the next twenty-four years. When Evan wrote his Will in 1798, he divided up 550 acres amongst his surviving heirs.

The year 1775 saw James Carson settle on land (350 acres) adjoining Evan M. James was a son of Charles Carson who had settled much earlier back in the Saluda area and who, in 1770, was vested with the right to operate a ferry across the Saluda River at Saluda Old Town. The ‘M.‘s and Carsons were neighbors there on Stephens Creek for at least forty-seven years. Two of Evan M.'s grandsons were witnesses when James Carson wrote his Will in 1822.

Photo: My G-G Grandfather Peterson, seated in the chair, with his family in Sweden, ca late 1800’s …. joined by my time-traveling grandson Allie. These Petersons are from my mother's side of the family and are not, and did not become, Americans.