Francis Kincannon Grants on the Old Stage Rd.

On Jan. 19, 1774 Francis Kincannon had 546 acres surveyed in what was then Fincastle County. The property was part of the Loyal Co. grant on the waters of the Middle Fork of the Holston River. The long northern boundary of Francis' land was contiguous with the southern boundary of a 2,183 acre tract settled by John Beattie.¹

Fig. 1. Jan. 19, 1774 survey for Francis Kincannon of 546 acres in (then) Fincastle Co., VA - metes and bounds

Fig. 2. Jan 19, 1774 survey for Francis Kincannon of 546 acres in (then) Fincastle Co., VA - plat map

The Revolutionary War halted the granting of land from the English crown. Yet no system was in place enabling the Commonwealth of Virginia to grant title until the Land Office Act of 1779. In the intervening years Francis lived on his survey, built a cabin and raised a family. He also either erected a separate structure used as a fort, or fortified his own home in such a way that it was used as a fort. Either way, reference to Kincannon's Fort exists in Rev. War pension records.²

Following the war Francis was entitled to 400 acres based on his having settled the land in 1769. The certificate granting him the right to the land noted that it had been originally surveyed on 19 Jan. 1774. However, Francis' 1774 survey included more than 400 acres. He acquired the surplus acreage under a separate grant based on Virginia Land Office Preemption warrant #1,997, dated 22 Dec. 1781. The Old Stage Road (present day Rt. 11) crossed both parcels as it traversed Washington County.

Perhaps because his land was to be granted as two separate parcels, Francis had the land resurveyed. When he did so the metes and bounds varied considerably from those of the 1774 survey. The new surveys created two parcels totaling 718 acres:

Fig 3. Francis Kincannon 1785 grants on the Old Stage Rd. (Rt. 11)

Francis Kincannon died in 1795. His will left the 328 acre settlement tract to his son Mathew. The 390 acres to its east went to Mathew's brother George Kincannon. The will also encumbered the men to pay specific amounts to their brothers James, Andrew, and Francis Kincannon, and sisters Mary Smith, Elizabeth Porterfield, and Betsy Scott.⁷

Fig. 4. George and Ann Kincannon to Clark; also to Talbert

George and Ann Kincannon sold 70 acres from the northwest corner of their tract to James and Isabella Clark on 12 Feb. 1798 (brown tract).⁸ James and Isabella built a log home on the property (gray arrow); see James and Isabella Clark home).

George added 8 acres of unclaimed land along the southwest edge of his remaining 320 acres on 27 Sept. 1800 (dark green sliver).⁹ Then, on 19 Oct. 1807, George and Ann sold the balance of the tract to Bazel Talbert for $2,666.66 (green tract).¹⁰ Bazel and his descendants operated an inn along the Great Road as it ran across this property (green arrow). It is likely the inn was originally built by a member of the Kincannon family (see Old Stagecoach Inn).

Fig 5. Edmiston and Robinson division

The disposition of Francis Kincannon's 328 acre settlement tract is more complex. On 13 Dec. 1805 Mathew and Leah Kincannon sold the full acreage (pink tract in figure 3) to John Robinson and John Edmiston for £1,000.¹¹ John Edmiston's sister Elizabeth Edmiston was John Robinson's wife. The deed description included the following neighbors: George Kincannon [east], [John] Orr [southeast], Henry Jones [south], [James] Dysart [west], and [John] Beatie's “old patent line” [north].

John Edmiston and John Robinson did not hold the full 328 acres for long. On 18 Jul 1808 they sold the southern part of the tract, totaling 182 acres, to Moses Edmiston [John Edmiston and Elizabeth (Edmiston) Robinson's brother] for £500 (purple tract).¹²

Fig. 6. John Robinson to Glade Spring Church Trustees (black square)

This left John Edmiston and John Robinson jointly holding the remaining northern acreage. On 16 Oct. 1812 John Edmiston sold his interest in the land to John Robinson for $1,586.67.¹³

John Robinson then executed a deed on 15 Feb. 1814 to the trustees of Glade Spring Presbyterian Church formally transferring title to 2 acres of land on which sat their church and cemetery (black square/blue arrow).¹⁴ The land had been gifted to the congregation by Francis Kincannon, but Francis died before a deed was executed. As the land then passed to Francis' son Mathew Kincannon, and then from Mathew to John Edmiston and John Robinson, and then to John Robinson alone, the obligation transferred with it.

John and Elizabeth Robinson were the parents of 5 sons. When John died in 1826 he left the bulk of his land to his son Moses, setting aside 10 acres each for sons John and Ebenezer Alexander.¹⁵ Neither Moses or John Robinson married, and their wills left Ebenezer Alexander eventually owning all their father's land. However in the intervening years the 3 brothers had both added to the land and sold acreage from it:

Fig 7. Beattie to Robinson and Snead; Robinson to Snead

Nickerson Snead also purchased land from William & Rhoda Beatie on the same day as Moses and John Robinson.¹⁶ Nickerson's purchase (blue outline 3) was for 135 acres and was also sold for $10 an acre. It sat north of and adjacent to the land Nickerson bought a few years later from Moses & Ebenezer Robinson. Nickerson built a brick home on the north side of the Great Road (white arrow; see Washington Co. Homes and Buildings for a view of the exterior). The structure sat very near the boundary between the two parcels. Although a plat made with the old metes and bounds suggests it fell just within the former Kincannon/Robinson acreage, it is impossible to know for sure without additional information.

The southern half of Francis Kincannon's original 328 acre settlement tract (purple land in Fig. 5) returned to Robinson ownership in March 1837 when John, James and Ebenezer Alexander Robinson purchased the land from the estate of Moses Edmiston¹⁸. In May 1847 the 3 Robinson brothers sold 39 acres back to Parker Smith and his wife, Ann (Ryburn) Orr.¹⁹ James Robinson appears to have eventually owned the rest of the parcel.

Four, possibly five structures built on Francis Kincannon's 1785 Washington Co., Virginia grants

John Robinson died in 1852²⁰; his brother Moses died in 1857.²¹ Having no descendants, they left their share of the Robinson land, including the land acquired from William Beattie, to their brother Ebenezer Alexander Robinson. Ebenezer married Rebecca Fulton in 1854.²² They built a large brick home in the vicinity of the original John Robinson log cabin (see Robinson homes).

Figure 8 shows the location of the E.A. Robinson home (burgundy arrow) as well as the other 4 structures discussed previously - all overlaid on a plat of Francis Kincannon's 1782 grants.

E.A. and Rebecca Robinson sold several sections of their land over the years, including 10 acres to Glade Spring Church in 1867 for a parsonage.²³ The parcel sat on a slight hill south of the church. In 1869 they sold 35 acres to Peter Clark²⁴ and in 1873 they sold 16+ acres to John M. and Thomas B. Clark.²⁵ Both parcels sat on the far west side of Francis Kincannon's settlement tract. Additional transactions have no doubt altered the shape and size of the original Kincannon grants.