Baltimore County land papers manuscript collection

Buck’s Purchase was a land tract in Baltimore County, Maryland which boundaries were disputed over in the early 1800s. This land tract intersected with the Selsed and multiple court documents details the dispute. Boundaries of Buck’s Purchase were out of the lines of Selsed and ownership of the land was disputed for years.

Rowland Thornburg’s patent for Selsed dates back to June 15, 1694. The land encompasses 900 acres located in Baltimore County on the northeast branch of the Patapsco River near the Jones Falls in the woods. He splits the land between himself and his sons, John and Francis. John Thornburg executes a deed with his attorney to convey 100 acres of Selsed, called Buck’s Purchase, to Nicholas Haile. This is where the controversial boundary issues begin, as there are multiple deeds for Buck’s Purchase with different acreage and to different individuals.

Regulation was originally two separate land tracts known as Port Mareen and Hunters Purchase. Owned by Thomas Carr, he obtained a land warrant and combined the two tracts into one to be called the Regulation. Regulation was then conveyed to Benjamin Bowen, who passed it onto family members after death. The Brice family came to own the Regulation, and its boundary lines were also disputed. John Brice owned land in Baltimore County around the northern side of the main falls of the Patapsco River on Diamond Ridge.