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Loyal Company of Virginia
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Loyal Company of Virginia
Loyal Company of Virginia or Loyal Land Company was a land speculation company formed in Virginia in 1749 for the purpose of recruiting settlers to western Virginia. The company continued operations until May 15 1776, when Virginia declared independence from Great Britain though litigation on behalf of and against the company continued until 1872.
On July 12 1748, the Virginia Council, the executive body of the Virginia House of Burgesses, approved a grant of 800,000 acres (324,000 hectares) to a consortium of investors. The grant was located west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, north of the undefined border with North Carolina and on the "western waters", i.e. in the Ohio Valley watershed. Unlike the Ohio Company which was required to recruit settlers to its lands, the Loyal Company was only required to file surveys on the lands it claimed and allowed four years to do so.
The primary founder of the Loyal Company of Virginia was John Lewis, a prominent pioneer in the Shenandoah Valley. The management and direction of the company was concentrated in Lewis and three other men: Thomas Walker, Joshua Fry, and Peter Jefferson.
Other founding members were John Meriwether, Charles Lewis, James Power, Charles Dick, Charles Barrett, Thomas Turpin, John Harvie, Thomas Meriwether, Thomas Meriwether, Jr., John Baylor, Samuel Waddy, Robert Barrett, George Robinson Henry Willis, Peachy Gilmer, James Maury, Thomas Lewis, Peter Hedgman, John Moore, Robert Martin, Henry Tate, Richard Jones, William Wood, Samuel Dalton, Francis Thornton, Francis Thornton, Jr., Nicholas Meriwether, William Hudson, Francis Meriwether, Humphrey Hill, John Dixon, and Edmund Pendleton.
The company was formed at a meeting held on December 12, 1749. John Lewis was appointed as the head of the company for a term of four years. Thomas Walker was appointed the company's agent for exploration.
On March 6 1750, Walker started the first of many trips into southwest Virginia and what is now Kentucky. The party led by Walker erected a cabin at what is now Barbourville, KY, to establish the Loyal Company's claim to the territory.
Due to the vague description of various land grants the Loyal Company found itself regularly embroiled in disputes with the Ohio Company and the New River Company of James Patton. The lack of certainty over land title slowed the process of attracting settlers and on June 14 1753, the Loyal Company was granted a four-year extension to its deadline for surveying claims.
The company also planned a substantial western expedition in 1753, to be led by Walker, with objectives that foreshadowed the Lewis and Clark Expedition. James Maury described the proposed trip in a 1756 letter: "Some persons were to be sent in search of that river Missouri, if that be the right name of it, in order to discover whether it had any communication with the Pacific Ocean; they were to follow the river if they found it, and exact reports of the country they passed through, the distances they traveled , what worth of navigation those river and lakes afforded etc."
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Loyal Company of Virginia
Loyal Company of Virginia or Loyal Land Company was a land speculation company formed in Virginia in 1749 for the purpose of recruiting settlers to western Virginia. The company continued operations until May 15 1776, when Virginia declared independence from Great Britain though litigation on behalf of and against the company continued until 1872.
On July 12 1748, the Virginia Council, the executive body of the Virginia House of Burgesses, approved a grant of 800,000 acres (324,000 hectares) to a consortium of investors. The grant was located west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, north of the undefined border with North Carolina and on the "western waters", i.e. in the Ohio Valley watershed. Unlike the Ohio Company which was required to recruit settlers to its lands, the Loyal Company was only required to file surveys on the lands it claimed and allowed four years to do so.
The primary founder of the Loyal Company of Virginia was John Lewis, a prominent pioneer in the Shenandoah Valley. The management and direction of the company was concentrated in Lewis and three other men: Thomas Walker, Joshua Fry, and Peter Jefferson.
Other founding members were John Meriwether, Charles Lewis, James Power, Charles Dick, Charles Barrett, Thomas Turpin, John Harvie, Thomas Meriwether, Thomas Meriwether, Jr., John Baylor, Samuel Waddy, Robert Barrett, George Robinson Henry Willis, Peachy Gilmer, James Maury, Thomas Lewis, Peter Hedgman, John Moore, Robert Martin, Henry Tate, Richard Jones, William Wood, Samuel Dalton, Francis Thornton, Francis Thornton, Jr., Nicholas Meriwether, William Hudson, Francis Meriwether, Humphrey Hill, John Dixon, and Edmund Pendleton.
The company was formed at a meeting held on December 12, 1749. John Lewis was appointed as the head of the company for a term of four years. Thomas Walker was appointed the company's agent for exploration.
On March 6 1750, Walker started the first of many trips into southwest Virginia and what is now Kentucky. The party led by Walker erected a cabin at what is now Barbourville, KY, to establish the Loyal Company's claim to the territory.
Due to the vague description of various land grants the Loyal Company found itself regularly embroiled in disputes with the Ohio Company and the New River Company of James Patton. The lack of certainty over land title slowed the process of attracting settlers and on June 14 1753, the Loyal Company was granted a four-year extension to its deadline for surveying claims.
The company also planned a substantial western expedition in 1753, to be led by Walker, with objectives that foreshadowed the Lewis and Clark Expedition. James Maury described the proposed trip in a 1756 letter: "Some persons were to be sent in search of that river Missouri, if that be the right name of it, in order to discover whether it had any communication with the Pacific Ocean; they were to follow the river if they found it, and exact reports of the country they passed through, the distances they traveled , what worth of navigation those river and lakes afforded etc."