The Mystery of Hugh Forgey's land

 Land records in Knox County, Tennessee had been key to establishing possible relationships in Lucille Wallace's book A genealogical history of the Forgy, Forgey and Forgie families in America. She located a land grant for a James Forgey which was for 500 acres on Flat Creek in Knox County, TN.

She assumed that this 500 acres was sold and split between Alexander Forgey, Andrew Forgey, and Hugh Forgey. Below is a snip from the book. 

Actually the land was split between Alexander and Andrew Forgey. Hugh did witness one of the deeds which may have led to the misunderstanding. 

Adding even more confusion was the fact Hugh Forgey sold 250 acres of land on Flat Creek also. 

All of this led Lucille Wallace to assume James Forgey was the father of Alexander, Andrew, and Hugh. It would have been unusual for a father to sell land to his sons. It's most likely this James was the son of Andrew Forgey and Margaret Reynolds. He appears to have bought land as a speculator in several areas. His Reynolds cousins owned land on Flat Creek so he had family ties there. 

Alexander and Andrew were likely brothers. Alexander Forgey, James Forgey's uncle, could have been their father. 

Examining land records we discover Hugh Forgey owned 400 acres on Flat Creek well before the sale of  the 250 acres by James. He was living on Flat Creek in the 1780s. He was definitely much older than Alexander Forgey who was said to have been born in 1780. Hugh Forgey was likely born in the 1760s. 

Hugh Forgey was a chain bearer in Knox County, Tennessee in 1786, again pointing to the fact he was much older than Andrew and Alexander. Both of those men didn't own any land until they bought the land from James in 1802. 

Hugh Forgey actually owned 400 acres on Flat Creek. Hugh Forgey shared a property line with Robert Reynolds. Likely his cousin. He sold off 150 acres in 1798. By coincidence leaving 250 acres. He sold off the remaining 250 acres, on Flat Creek, in 1806.

I have not been able to find a grant or purchase deed for the land Hugh Forgey sold off? The lack of a deed misled Lucille Wallace. 

Recently I have found references to this land in other grants at the NORTH CAROLINA LAND GRANT IMAGES AND DATA website. It appears he likely purchased this grant from William McBroom. or survey. 

Here Hugh Forgey is described as living on William McBroom's survey on Flat Creek in 1793. 

It states Hugh Forgey lives on McBroom's survey. There was a 400 acre grant to McBroom on Flat Creek in 1789. 

I would like to find out when Hugh purchased the 400 acres. I have an index with page numbers for additional deeds but have not located the books these page numbers refer to?

We do know Hugh was living on 400 acres on the west fork of Flat Creek in 1791, according to Robert Reynolds land patent. This entry below, from 1791, refers to Hugh Forgey's 400 acre survey. I have not found a 400 acre survey for Hugh, however. 

As the old deed books began to fade and fall apart deeds were copied into new books. It's possible Hugh Forgey's purchase deed never made it into the newer books? Notations for book and page numbers of other books are often recorded in the margins of the deeds. Below is an example. 

Some of the page numbers I found might refer to an older volume that no longer exists or isn't at the McClung library in Knoxville? 

Hugh and John Forgey were chainbearers for James Reynolds in 1788. We know the Reynolds family is related through Andrew Forgey's wife Margaret Reynolds. 

John is kind of a mystery because he was said to have died in 1793 and James Forgey of Hawkins County, Tennessee was the administrator of his estate. According to Andrew Forgey's, husband of Margaret Reynolds, will John was still alive when Andrew Forgey wrote his will leaving John land in 1809. 

According to Andrew's will Hugh Forgey was living on some of John's land in 1809. There appeared to be a close relationship between Hugh and John. I surmise they were together in Knox County in the 1780s. I see no sign of another John in the records. Maybe John didn't really die in 1793? Hugh was accused of perjury for his testimony in the case regarding the estate of John Forgey. Another John Forgey could also have joined the family, coming out from Ireland. or he could have been Andrew and Alexander's brother? 

Hugh Crawford, son of Nancy Forgey, did mention John and Hugh Forgey in his journal. He remembered seeing John and the fact he lived in Middle Tennessee. His uncle Hugh Forgey died when he was very young and he didn't know much about him. Below is a passage from his journal stating his uncle Hugh Forgey lived in Knox County, Tennessee at one time not far from where he was then living.

 We can with reasonable certainty surmise John and Hugh Forgey were sons of Andrew Forgey and Margaret Reynolds. Andrew and Alexander might be sons of Alexander Forgey, brother of Andrew, who lived in Washington County, Virginia. 

More deed books will eventually come online for Knox County, Tennessee. I might be able to find the deed of sale for Hugh's 400 acres when more books come online? 

Knox County, Tennessee Researchers

The McClung library sent me this list of researchers who specialize in research in Knox County, Tennessee. Personally I'm not interested in hiring a professional, but this might be of help to someone else.