Large archive of 100 plus items, including land grants signed by Tennessee Governors James K. Polk, Willie Blount, Joseph McMinn, and William Carroll, pertaining to John Davis (1770-1853), early surveyor and prominent land holder in Nashville, Tennessee and grandfather of Edward Dickson Hicks II (1831-1984), the founder of Historic Devon Farm. 1st item: Governor of Tennessee and later President James Knox Polk (1795-1849) signed land document, granting John Davis six hundred acres in Davidson County, TN, dated February 22, 1840. Note: James Polk was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He was the Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835-1839) and the ninth Governor of Tennessee (1839-1841). 2nd item: Governor of Tennessee Willie Blount (1768-1835) and Secretary William Grainger Blount (1784-1827) signed land document, granting Jesse Williams, assignee of John Deal, three hundred and twenty acres in Stewart County, TN, in consideration of Deal's military service, dated May 7, 1813. Note: Willie Blount was the third Governor of Tennessee, serving 1809-1815. Note: William Grainger Blount was the eldest son of William Blount, nephew of Governor Willie Blount. He practiced law in Knoxville and became the owner of Blount Mansion after serving three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives. 3rd-5th items: Three (3) Governor of Tennessee Joseph McMinn (1758-1824) signed land documents, including one (1) granting Jonathan F. Robertson and John Davis, assignees of Edward Newman, six hundred and forty acres in Dickson County, TN, in consideration of Deal's military service, dated February 1, 1816, one (1) granting John Davis, assignee of Joshua Davis, fifty acres in Dickson County, TN, dated February 2, 1816, and one (1) granting John Davis, assignee of John Hayes, thirty acres in Humphreys County, TN, dated September 11, 1816. Note: Joseph McMinn was the fourth Governor of Tennessee, serving 1815-1821. 6th item: Governor of Tennessee William Carroll (1788-1844) signed land document, granting Peter Booth fifty acres in Davidson County, TN, dated August 17, 1825. Note: William Carroll was the fifth Governor of Tennessee and served twice, from 1821-1827 and again from 1829-1835. Biography: John Davis was born in Eastern North Carolina in 1770. By some accounts, he fought in the Revolutionary War as a teen. Other accounts say it was actually his father, Frederick Davis, who fought, securing the land grant that prompted 18 year old John Davis to strike out for what was then Davidson County, North Carolina. Davis fought Indians in the territory, doing battle at Buchanan Station in 1792, and worked as a Davidson County surveyor. He brought his entire family, including Frederick Davis and sister Ciddy Davis (who would marry the son of Nashville founding father James Robertson), to Davidson County. In 1798, he began a family of his own by marrying a Virginia-born girl, Dorcas Gleaves. One of their daughters, Nancy Davis, married Edward Dickson Hicks, but the young couple died not long after she gave birth to their son, Edward Dickson Hicks II. John and Dorcas Davis raised the child, and all the while, John Davis was surveying and amassing land. The property around their farm grew, as did the red brick home, and by the time of his death in 1853, Davis's legacy included more than 30,000 acres of land--and, according to his obituary, "an unspotted reputation for integrity and honesty, which was never questioned." 7th-21st items: Fifteen (15) land indentures and other documents, including copies, pertaining to property owned by John Davis of Davidson County, TN and others, one (1) signed by Andrew Ewing (1783-1813), the first County Court Clerk for the Cumberland Territory, dated circa 1797-1848. Note: "The office of Court Clerk was created in 1780 by the Cumberland Compact, the original articles of agreement signed by settlers who established Fort Nashborough. Andrew Ewing, a Revolutionary War veteran born in Pennsylvania, and who arrived in 1780 with John Donelson, was appointed as the first County Court Clerk for the Cumberland Territory. Ewing was reappointed in 1783 when Davidson County, North Carolina was established. During his tenure he set the precedence for transcribing the county's earliest legal proceedings, recording of all land deeds and transactions, wills, marriages, births, and deaths in the territory. He even transcribed some of Founder James Robertson's state documents. When Tennessee became a state in 1796, Ewing remained as County Court Clerk. He held the position until his death in 1813." (source: http://www.nashvilleclerk.com/about/history/). Also includes a large 100 plus item collection of clipped newspaper articles, publications, a scrapbook, and other ephemera items pertaining to Devon Farm, owned by seven generations of Davis-Hicks descendants, in Davidson County, TN. Individuals featured include Nashville photographer Otto Giers, his daughter, Hunter Giers, who married Edward Dickson Hicks IV, and Sarah Hunter Hicks Green, dated circa 1922-1976. (For additional biographical information regarding the Davis-Hicks-Giers family and Devon Farm, see: https://caseantiques.com/2016/06/279385/). Provenance: Private Nashville Collection.

1st-21st: Overall good condition with toning, few documents with tears, areas of loss, largest 1" x 1". Governor signatures in clear, legible condition. Additional ephemera items with toning, tears, areas of loss, dampstaining, and general handling wear to be expected from age and manner of use.