also was Isaac who murdered Cherokee Billy at a horse race at Sycamore Shoals, an act that helped precipitate the Great Cherokee War of 1776. 

            This Jacob Crabtree is not to be confused with another one of the same name who was born in Saltville in 1789, and later on owned the salt works there. 

The large colonial land companies were suspected of being Tory sympathizers during the American Revolution. The Land Office of the Commonwealth of Virginia was closed from the onset of Lord Dunmore's War in 1774 until 1778. No land grants were issued nor recorded during this interlude. With the reopening of the land office there was considerable political conflict over whether or not these Tory tainted grants should be honored. The General Assembly passed a law that all the Loyal Land Company grants issued before 1778 would be honored, and that all land grants issued after that date would be illegal. The Commonwealth not only used the court system to go after these grants, but also the tax collector.  Nevertheless, Crabtree and others continued to sell their land warrants, and for a period of time land grants continued to be issued to settlers based on these land warrants.  This controversy continued in Virginia’s court system for decades well into the 19th century.   

Illustrative of this problem are various tracts of property located in Elk Garden at the intersection of current State Hwy #80 and US 19. The tract in the southeast corner was originally granted to Samuel Vanhook (LO 13–655) in 1787, and which was regranted to George McConnell (LO 50–342) in 1802. It would appear that Samuel Vanhook grant had been negated.

  ... Continued, Page 9