Thursday, October 25, 2007

Borden's Grant, 1734

Benjamin Borden,* a native of New Jersey, and agent of Lord [Thomas] Fairfax in the lower Valley, obtained from Governor [William] Gooch a patent dated October 3, 1734, for a tract of land in Frederick county, which was called "Borden's Manor." At the same time he was promised 100,000 acres on the waters of James River, west of the Blue Ridge, as soon as he should locate a hundred settlers on the tract.

*His surname is sometimes found spelled "Burden" in early texts. Bordentown, New Jersey, was named for one of the extended family, James Borden.

(Source: Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871, by Joseph Addison Waddell, pub. 1902, C.R. Caldwell)