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Thomas Wylds 1786 Plat
Which version of this plat is correct?
Thomas Wyld was granted 100 acres on Long Branch of the North Edisto River in 1786. The plat was surveyed by William Wright when it was laid out and granted to Wyld. Another survey for some adjoining property was done in 1834 by Alexander McInnis. McInnis sometimes included outlines of adjoining tracts in his drawings and did so with the Wyld grant on this occasion. The Wyld grant was then involved in a lawsuit involving Trespass to Try Titles in 1841 and another survey was done by John N. Barrillon. The drawing below gives the pertinent details of the three surveys of this 100 acre tract.
This is perhaps the most extreme example of survey variations for one parcel that I have come across in my research but it is by no means the only example. We could attempt to decide which surveyor drew the grant “correctly” but there is a more important point to keep in mind. Plat drawings were a surveyor’s attempt to record the lines, points and corners he either originally made on the land itself or found from a previous survey. The legally recognized boundaries of a tract were those actually marked on the property. It is just possible that none of these three surveyors got it quite right.

Wylds, Sturkey

