Some of the earliest landholders in Chatham County obtained their lands through grants from the Granville land office between the years of 1751 and 1763.  Unlike many earlier grants in our area, the records for these Granville grants are relatively complete. In the past, a major problem to identifying grants made in what is now Chatham County was sorting these out from the more than 800 grants made in Chatham’s parent county, Orange.

CCHA member Jim Wiggins has undertaken the task of identifying the Chatham grants by using references to waterways. He has produced a list of some 202 grants that he believes are probably for land in what is now Chatham.  Along with the grantholder’s name, he provides the survey and grant dates, number of acres granted, waterways and other geographic features mentioned in the survey, adjoining landholders mentioned in the survey, a map code that allows users to locate the waterway by USGS map segments, and page references to his sources.  The information can be accessed here on the CCHA website via the links below. 

Jim stresses that the data he has presented are a work in progress.  He invites corrections and additions from anyone with additional information or alternative viewpoints. Send suggestions for corrections to Jim Wiggins, c/o CCHA, PO Box 93, Pittsboro, NC 27312, or via email to history@chathamhistory.org.  Please include your contact information so we may ask you for more information if necessary.

Links to Granville Land Grant information:

Wiggins article on Granville Land Grants in Chatham County

Appendix A.1: Chatham County Waterways List by USGS Segment

Appendix A.2: Granville Land Grants in Chatham Section of Orange County by Grantee Name

Appendix A.3: Granville Land Grants in Chatham Section of Orange County by Grant Date

Appendix A.4: Granville Land Grants in Chatham Section of Orange County by Map Segment

Appendix B.1: Map of Chatham County Waterways by Map Segment

Appendix C: A Brief History of the Granville District and Land Grants