Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

Is desirous of a motivated Investigator to look into a case recently brought to our attention.

While researching some long dead folks on the NS (North Side) of Tar River near to the Conoto Pocoson area of sd county, your overly wary and suspicious blog host has run across some peculiar happenstances noted in the Edgecombe County deeds. Forthwith, to elaborate:

Whoa Nelly! I thinks to myself… who the hell is this John Green who held 2000 acres in the Conoto Pocoson on the NS Tar River? And to add to my addled confusion… who is this curious Christopher Green? Hmmmm.

I quickly find another suspicious deed… this one referencing a Thomas Newsom but noting the same characters noted in the deed above. Forsooth! This also catches the eye of noted abstractor CTC who notes in all caps: “CHRISTOPHER GREEN MAY BE CHRISTOPHER GWINN”.

And with this third deed it is made more clear the nefarious activities and dark motives of this Christopher Gwinn fella. Merchant my ass! I smell a Swindler.

I suspect the conniving Gwinn fella realized he had his hands on 2000 acres of essentially counterfeit deeds. He was basically selling the counterfeit deeds back into circulation rather than exposing the initial theft of Lord Granville’s property. A more kind-hearted soul other than myself may believe he was simply duped by John Green. I doubt it. In the 1720s, roughly, there was what was known then as the “Blank Patent Scandal”. Most, if not all, of the criminals running the colonial government were happily passing out blank patents to be filled in by the purchasers. For a fee of course. They generally operated out of Bath Precinct which housed Beaufort County… where I suspect John Green hailed from. John Green being the culprit who merrily filled in 2000 acres of land situated around eastern Conoto Pocoson just north of the Tar River which would eventually become Edgecombe County. Christopher Gwinn “somehow” acquired the sd 2000 acres from John Green. Viola! we have a conspiracy.

I offer my evidence:

James Castellaw “knew”… Gnome Sane?

This type of land scandal was evidently commonplace… but you can only push people so far.

The Enfield Riot 1759. The year The Boys Got Pissed!.

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/enfield-riot-1759/