William Moon's land grant 1808 - East Fork of Little Pigeon River

A recent email I received from a fellow researcher reminded me of a discovery I happened upon last fall.  I decided it was something I should post about here.  The researcher said, "I attempted to determine the location of the Wm. Moon farm from the legal description but was unable to do so.  Do you know where the farm actually was located?"  I realized that, possibly, I did know that.

My husband and I enjoy going to the public library in Knoxville to do research in the McClung Historical Collection. So we took a weekend last November to do just that. They have genealogy manuscripts that have been donated by previous researchers.  In the files of Christine Moon Armstrong, I happened upon a hand drawn map of land grants along the East Fork of Little Pigeon River.  It looks like it was drawn out on graph paper and in the upper right hand corner is written, "Plat" and a number that I can't decipher, possibly 12.  William Moon's 385 acre land grant is marked there along with those surrounding it.  These are all to the East of Sevierville.

Once I returned home, I realized that I had a larger map showing earlier land grants from 1806-1807.  However William Moon's land and the others in this area are not marked.  But, by comparing the two maps, I could tell where the smaller map showing Moon's land fit with the larger map.  Land grant number 25 for M C Rogers on the large map along with the one for James Cannon below it, are also noted on the smaller map.  And, the larger map had taken the land grants and overlayed them onto a map with some modern day land marks.  This helped me to identify where the land was located. 

Using a map website, some land marks and looking at the curve of the river, I think I can pinpoint the location of the land grant. It appears to lie between Witt Hollow Rd and Murrell Meadows Dr., north of the river.

I was delighted to find that there is a Bed and Breakfast Inn located on the property today.  This just might mean a future trip to Sevierville to stay on the land where my husband's ancestor originally settled!