Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-10-14
Agar Statement.

NY g Shaye noticed tho statement Of econ.
sA'R S.A In tho Charleston Ne,os, respecting
the transactions of the Land Commissioner
In our County, and the reply of tho Columbia
correspondent Of the SoutA ,Caroliaa ReDub.
t'can' Il while "CoRsAln' has in. paitiau,srs
peen maisinformed, the natural conclusion Of
speculation and extravaganoe is correct, aud
the correspondent Of tile jPepuJlican has
taken advantage of an error in names to e6vcr
up transaction more than discreditablc to
tho powers that be. We suboin fair state
ment OF the affair, as gathered from the rcc
ords iu tho Clerks Office here, and from tho
tsttorney OF the original owner of the lands.
In March, 1869, KEEsE e. McCuLIY. Of
Anderson, purchased OH OyEaroN LEWIS.
three tracts of land in Oconee County: The
Poor Mountain, 1850 acres tho Steele tract
lo2 acres; the Owens tract, 1,O45 acres
making tot'l of 3,7sT acres, for the sum Of
twelve thousand dollars, the terms being
twenty five hundred dollars cash, and tho
balance to t9 be paid in equal annual instalments.
lnnG2 ,n2 October, 1860, KNEsE g. NIoCuL1Y sold
the three tracts above named to CocuRAN
HARRISON T. ScorT, for sS, 500, being little
under two dollars and twenty. fvc cents per
acre, (upon similar terms, as wo are inform.
ED On the 9th Of May, 1870, scorp 4
HARRISON, by deed, conveyed to JcnN r.
COCHRAN their undivided two thirds of the
"Owens Tract" 1,045 acres, for tho stated
consideration of four thousand dollars and on
the 18th day Of May, 1870, john r. Cocu-
RAN conveys this tract to r. q. DELARuE,
Tor the sum of six thousand two hundred and
seventy dollars, Preserving however to myself,
my heirs and assigns the right and title to
live OF the largest and best trees on each acre
OF the said tract of land, and the privilege of
entering thercupon, cutting down and hauling
OH tho said trees" IF tho timber reserved
by COCHRAN be rated at 40 cents tree, it
would add $4,000 to tho price he obtained
for the land, nnd by its loss to the land re.
duccs the true value of the property to that
extent. 1t thus appears the State paid real
~ $500 for the Owens tract, l,045 acres,
which cost CocunAN but 50 25 per acre
In this little transaction the Poor Mountain,
2,55O acres, and the Steele tract 1872 acres,
stand the parties ut $3.50. The Owens tract
has some very good land OH it, and would
perhaps bring three thousand dollars with the
timber.
We give another little transaction:
On the 18th day of December, 1860, J. j.
NORTON and W. G. KEITH conveyed to
JOHN L.. COCHRAN two hundred and sixty.
one acres of land in this county, for two hun
drcd and sixty one dollars On the 18th of
May, 1870, JOHN r. Cochran conveyed the
same land to r. G.. DELARoE, for fifteen
hundred and sil!xtyssi dollars; KEITH and
cents an acre, and in 1868 sold so acres Of it
to freedman, at one dollar per acre, giving
to their agc"t rs per cent for selling and
surveying The land is not worth over one
dollar, if so mu,h, per acre.
One significant fact in these transactions is
that the deeds in some instances do not rcritc
the true consideration. In the deed frou,
hEEsE " McCULLY to COCHRAN, HARRISON
u SCOTT, conveying the Owens tract, lO45
acres, the consideration is set out to be ton
thousand dollars. We are reliably informed
that eight thousand five hundred dollars was
tho true consideration for the three tracts
purchased from KEEsE g. NICCuLIy bcing
o,IS7 acres, including in this the said Ovens
tract,
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