In 1859, my 4th great grandfather, Jesse Trantham, purchased 120 acres of land in Greene County, Arkansas. He packed up his belongings, his 2nd wife and his large family and he left Tennessee. My mother speculated that he made this move attempting to avoid the “looming war between the states”. Things must have been getting tense in Tennessee. Jesse’s brother Robert Floyd and son Hiram also purchased land in Arkansas about this same time.

Since Jesse purchased the land in Arkansas from the Federal Government under a Land Patent, all of the relevant documents are available on the U.S. Department of Interior – Bureau of Land Management’s website. Once I found the documents, I set out to find the exact location. (Interesting side note – Jesse’s middle initial on the certificate appears as “N”. I should also mention that the certificate clearly displays his last name as “Trantham” and not “Trentham”. This might be first instance of an historical document with the spelling variation!)

The land was situated in Section 12 of Township 18 North of Range 6 East. In the image below, borrowed from the Bureau of Land Management’s website, the darker orange square represents Section 12.

Based on the legal description, Jesse’s 120 acres was located in the southeast quadrant and looked something like this:

On a modern-day aerial map, the shape of his land can be clearly seen thanks to the tree line that forms a perimeter:

As a point of reference, the city of Marmaduke, Arkansas is located just south of Jesse’s land:

I am not sure yet who owns the land currently; but, the next time I am in Arkansas, I may just drop in for a visit. I borrowed the aerial maps from Google.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th great grandfather
Common ancestors: Tranthams, Tranthams, and more Tranthams

References:
https://www.google.com/maps
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx