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In the early history of Kentucky there was much trouble arising
out of defective land titles, and settlers in every portion of the
State suffered more or less from this cause. The old records of
Christian County show more land litigation than any other kind.
Collins says: The radical and incurable defect of the law was the
neglect of Virginia to provide for the general survey of the
country, at the expense of the Government, and its subdivision into
whole, half and quarter sections, as is now done by the United
States. Instead of this, each possessor of a warrant was allowed to
locate the same where he pleased, and was required to survey it at
his own cost, but his entry was required to be so special and
precise, that each subsequent locator might recognize the land
already taken up, and make his entry elsewhere. To make a good
entry, therefore, required a precision and accuracy of description
which such men as Boone and Kenton could not be expected to possess;
and all vague entries were declared null and void. Unnumbered
sorrows, law suits and heart-rending vexations were the consequences
of this unhappy law. In the unskillful hands of the pioneers and
hunters of Kentucky, entries, surveys and patents were piled upon
each other, overlapping and crossing in endless perplexity. In the
meantime the immediate consequence of the law was a flood of
immigration. The hunters of the elk and buffalo were succeeded by
the more ravenous hunters of land; in the pursuit they fearlessly
braved the hatchet of the Indian and the privations of the forest.
The surveyor's chain and compass were seen in the woods as
frequently as the rifle; and during the years 1779-80-81, the great
and all-absorbing object in Kentucky was to enter, survey and obtain
a patent for the richest sections of land. Indian hostilities were
rife during the whole of this period, but these only formed episodes
in the great drama."
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