Atlas of the Cumberland Pioneer Settlements - 1779 - 1804

I received a message from newsletter reader Paula Snyder that caught ny interest:

I attended an MTGS meeting yesterday where Jack Masters, Doug Drake and Bill Puryear presented information on their book to be published this summer. It is a fantastic piece of work and includes 1500 North Carolina land grants in 11 middle Tennessee counties. They have just begun taking pre-publication orders.

The website describing their work is www.cumberlandpioneers.com.

I think you will be as excited as I am when you see the information they have gathered and how it has been formatted. Anyone who has an ancestor passing through this area during this time period will want a copy of this book.

I think this could be a topic for your newsletter.

Paula Snyder

I agree. I looked at the web site and this does appear to be a major study. Quoting from the web site's description of the new books:

Volume I - Atlas of the Cumberland Pioneer Settlements  1779 - 1804

Publication Summer 2009

Not a traditional Atlas however it's close with much, much more. This work will be a "must" for those interested in area Pioneer History as well as Genealogists attempting to solve family existence in this "Gateway to the early American Western Frontier".

• Focus area is all or portions of an eleven county area of Northern Middle Tennessee
• Introductory summary of North Carolina Land Grants and how they were awarded
• The Officials and Surveyors involved in granting of the land
• Pioneer Grant Holders - 1,494 North Carolina land grants transcribed, complete with surveyor plats
• North Carolina designated "Public Lick Areas", Nashborough and Davidson Academy
• Maps - Earliest Indian trails, Traces and Jury Roads
• Signers of the Cumberland Compact with a biographical sketch of each
• Summary and detailed location of all known Pioneer sites
• Maps - detailed location of all grants and public areas on current topographical maps
• Pictures of trace segments, fords and like images
• All name index
• See Volume I for a more detailed summary of contents

Volume II - Thoroughfare For Freedom

Target publication 2010

The story of where we came from, how we got here, the land we settled and the society we created.  While many pioneers planted deep roots in the Cumberland River Valley most continued to West Tennessee, down the Natchez Trace to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, to Arkansas and Texas and ultimately to California and the west coast.

• Introduction
• Just Before Dawn
• Treaties, Trinkets and Treacheries
• "I Have Broken Your Land Stealer Against A Tree"
• Sunrise On The Cumberland
• Thunder On The Cumberland
• The Cumberland - Gateway to the West
• Triumph of the Rule of Law - A Society Creating Itself
• Biographies and Pioneer Portraits
• Evidences of Pioneer Life Today
• Conclusion and Summary
• See Volume II for a more detailed summary of contents

 You can learn more at: http://www.cumberlandpioneers.com.