1770 King George III Royal North Carolina Land Grant – Sylvanus Dixon – Carteret County, Core Sound – John Frohock
An original colonial North Carolina royal land patent issued in the name of King George III on December 4, 1770, granting 300 acres in Carteret County to Sylvanus Dixon, whose name is rendered “Salvenus Dickson” in the document.
The land was situated “on the North Side of Core Sound on Hunting Quarter,” encompassing property around Thoroughfare Bay in the historic Hunting Quarters region of eastern Carteret County—an area now associated with the coastal communities of Sea Level and Atlantic. Its extensive handwritten metes-and-bounds description identifies waterways, inlets, courses, distances and marked trees defining this early coastal property.
Printed at the head “North Carolina” and beginning with the imposing royal declaration, “George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,” the patent conveys the land to Dixon and his heirs under the authority of the British Crown. It was issued during the administration of William Tryon, royal governor of North Carolina from 1765 to 1771.
An important colonial endorsement on the reverse records the patent’s official registration:
“Enrolled in the Office of the Auditor General at New Bern this 8 Day of January 1771. John Frohock, Aud.”
John Frohock was a prominent colonial official, substantial land speculator and controversial figure whose alleged abuses of office became associated with the grievances that produced North Carolina’s Regulator movement. The document was therefore created during an exceptionally turbulent period, only months before the Battle of Alamance and approximately five years before American independence.
Sylvanus Dixon was an early Carteret County landholder with longstanding connections to the Hunting Quarters area. He remained in the county following the Revolution and appears as the head of a household in the 1790 federal census.
An impressive surviving artifact of royal government, colonial land distribution and the early settlement of North Carolina’s Core Sound region.
Date: December 4, 1770
Registration: January 8, 1771
Place: Carteret County, Province of North Carolina
Grantee: Sylvanus Dixon, written “Salvenus Dickson”
Acreage: 300 acres
Location: North side of Core Sound, Hunting Quarters and Thoroughfare Bay
Royal authority: King George III
Administration: Royal Governor William Tryon
Enrollment: John Frohock, Auditor General’s Office, New Bern
Condition: Poor and fragmentary, as shown. The document is separated along numerous old fold lines and has substantial paper losses, holes, edge tears, staining and detached sections. Nevertheless, a large portion of the printed royal text, handwritten land description, grantee’s name, acreage, location and reverse enrollment remain legible. The original provincial seal and presumed signature of Governor Tryon are no longer present. All surviving fragments are included. Professional conservation is recommended.
An original colonial North Carolina royal land patent issued in the name of King George III on December 4, 1770, granting 300 acres in Carteret County to Sylvanus Dixon, whose name is rendered “Salvenus Dickson” in the document.
The land was situated “on the North Side of Core Sound on Hunting Quarter,” encompassing property around Thoroughfare Bay in the historic Hunting Quarters region of eastern Carteret County—an area now associated with the coastal communities of Sea Level and Atlantic. Its extensive handwritten metes-and-bounds description identifies waterways, inlets, courses, distances and marked trees defining this early coastal property.
Printed at the head “North Carolina” and beginning with the imposing royal declaration, “George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,” the patent conveys the land to Dixon and his heirs under the authority of the British Crown. It was issued during the administration of William Tryon, royal governor of North Carolina from 1765 to 1771.
An important colonial endorsement on the reverse records the patent’s official registration:
“Enrolled in the Office of the Auditor General at New Bern this 8 Day of January 1771. John Frohock, Aud.”
John Frohock was a prominent colonial official, substantial land speculator and controversial figure whose alleged abuses of office became associated with the grievances that produced North Carolina’s Regulator movement. The document was therefore created during an exceptionally turbulent period, only months before the Battle of Alamance and approximately five years before American independence.
Sylvanus Dixon was an early Carteret County landholder with longstanding connections to the Hunting Quarters area. He remained in the county following the Revolution and appears as the head of a household in the 1790 federal census.
An impressive surviving artifact of royal government, colonial land distribution and the early settlement of North Carolina’s Core Sound region.
Date: December 4, 1770
Registration: January 8, 1771
Place: Carteret County, Province of North Carolina
Grantee: Sylvanus Dixon, written “Salvenus Dickson”
Acreage: 300 acres
Location: North side of Core Sound, Hunting Quarters and Thoroughfare Bay
Royal authority: King George III
Administration: Royal Governor William Tryon
Enrollment: John Frohock, Auditor General’s Office, New Bern
Condition: Poor and fragmentary, as shown. The document is separated along numerous old fold lines and has substantial paper losses, holes, edge tears, staining and detached sections. Nevertheless, a large portion of the printed royal text, handwritten land description, grantee’s name, acreage, location and reverse enrollment remain legible. The original provincial seal and presumed signature of Governor Tryon are no longer present. All surviving fragments are included. Professional conservation is recommended.
