DESCRIPTION: Extremely rare pen and ink manuscript map of Cedar Island, Georgia signed by Thomas McCall (1), Surveyor General of Georgia, just two years before the colony became the fourth state to enter the Union when it ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 2, 1788. The plat survey, conducted March 20, 1786, was related to a warrant issued by Senior Justice Jared Irwin (2), just two years after Washington County was created from land ceded by two treaties with the Creek and Cherokee native Americans in 1783.
The true location of Cedar Island is speculative but, at the top of the document is a drawing of the Cedar Island plat, bisected by a survey line where the two end points were a white oak tree and a cypress tree. The island lies surrounded on all four sides by the Oconee river, and with other properties outside the boundaries, including “Indian Land” at the north. The text reads:
“Pursuant to a Warrant under the hand of the Honorable Jared Irwin esquire Senior Justice presiding at … court ... in Washington County. Dated March 6,1786. Was Surveyed for Charnill Wallis, who resides in this State a Tract of Land containing Six Hundred Acres in Oconee River called Ceder Island: - Having such form & marks, as are expected in the above plat. Surveyed March 20, 1786 by Jno. Hill D.S. & certified by Saml. Camp pro. b. Surveyor."
(1) Beginning in 1783, Georgia granted each free adult male 200 acres under the headright system, plus 50 acres for each family member—including enslaved persons—up to 1,000 acres total. Applicants appeared before the county land court for a warrant of survey. The county surveyor then mapped the tract, prepared a plat, and sent it to the Surveyor General for recording. After paying required fees, the applicant received a formal land grant from the Governor. During the immediate post-war period many war veterans were granted land in Washington County.
(2) Jared Irwin (c. 1750–1818) was a prominent political figure in Georgia. He served twice as Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). The title “Senior Justice” refers to his role presiding over a Land Court (or a county court)
(3) Charnel Wallace came from the State of Georgia. During the Revoluionary War Wallace was mustered into the army in Georgia. On the Third day of April, in 1786, he received a bounty of five hundred, seventy-five acres of land, from the State of Georgia.
(4) Thomas McCall was the Surveyor General of Georgia from 1786 to 1795. During the Revolutionary War Thomas Harris McCall (1764 - 1840) served as a private in the colonial army as a member of Capt. Green's Troop of Horses in General Francis Marion's (the "Swamp Fox") Brigade. McCall was appointed by the governor of Georgia as Assistant Surveyor General before his 20th birthday. His first known survey was recorded in 1784 and he served as Surveyor General for the state of Georgia from 1786 - 1795. For his services to the state, McCall received grants of lands along the eastern side of the Oconee River totaling more than 130,000 acres and eleven town lots in Brunswick, Georgia.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1786
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Oconee River
CONDITION: Fair.
Laid down to heavy stock. Staining and other expected age-related features.
COLORING: None.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 12
" x
16 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 78
PRICE: $990
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