Azor Rees 1774

The transcription of the early "Certificate Book" by Lucas shows the record to be blurred leaving the name "....... Rees".  It has been felt by Collins to be "Azor Rees" who with a Joel Rees is the only other by this surname in the records.  At any rate, Azor Rees seems the most likely to have made a settlement lying dear the "Knob Lick".  It reads:

"------- Rees this day claimed a preemption of 1000 Acres of Land in the district of Kentucky on Acc't of Marking and improving the same in the year 1774 & 1775 lying near the Knob Lick Isaac Shelby having Obtained a Cert. for the------"

[ p. 260, Certificate Book of The Virginia Land Commission 1779 - 1780, published by The Kentucky Historical Society, 1981.]  Collins notes can be found in his Kentucky History, Vol. 2, p. 517.

Knob Lick was a distinctive land mark found on Filson's first map of 1784.  Isaac Shelby would certainly have something to say about this new land.  This land mark is just south of what was to become the town lands of Danville.

For this early map see post of December 13, 2012 which shows the central Kentucky area.  See if you can find this "Knob Lick".

The Names of 1774

The folks who managed to get their names into the survey books of 1774 were an extra special group of guys.  These were the  first to establish their claims to the land that was to become Danville, Kentucky.  The following is a list of these men who became "official" owners of the land.  This information has been abstracted from "Certificate Book of The Virginia Land Commission 1779-1780".

James Brown, Clark's Run, 1000 acres, p. 215

John Clark, Clark's Run,, 1400 acres, p.22

John Cowan, Clark's Run, 1400 acres, p. 22-23

John Crow, 1400 acres, p.305

Azor Rees, 1000 acres, p.260. [Isaac Shelby was to obtain this land on Knob Lick 1776, p.8]

As best as I can tell, these men were the first to claim Danville, KY.  On survey, 1400 acres would be contained in a 1 mile x 2.2 mile area.  These folks would have roughly a 6 mile square area of land.