The County Seat

The town of Marion was surveyed and platted in Oct 1839, by Henry W Perry. The original plat contains the public square, and one row of blocks surrounding it. These blocks contain from one to four lots each, making in all forty-seven lots. A special term of the county commissioner's court was held 16 Oct 1839, when Henry W Perry was allowed the sum of $12 for his Services in surveying and platting the town; and his assistants, James Henderson, Dempsey Odum, Archibald T Benson and EN Spiller, were each allowed $2 for their services. The sheriff was then ordered to sell the town lots on a credit of 6, 12 and 18 months, the purchaser giving bond with approved security. The sale of lots began on the 13 Nov 1839, and continued 3 days, during which time 38 lots were sold to the persons and for the price shown in the following tabular statement:

(the prices per lot did not come out on my copy so I will have to add them later)

Lots	Blocks	Name of Purchasers	Price per Lot
1	1	Samuel H D Ryburn	$50
1	4	Sterling Hill	60
2	4	John T Davis	111
1	5	Wm Benson	113
2	5	Daniel R Pulley	93
4	9	Joab Goodall	67
1	9	John T & Thomas D Davis	100
4	10	F F Duncan	116
1	10	John G Sparks	78
3	12	Dempsey Odum	80
4	12	John Davis	131
3	13	A T Benson	150
4	13	E C Spiller	114
1	15	Wm Benson	102
2	15	Wm I Benson	161.25
1	16	J B Freeman	96
2	16	John D Sanders	68
2	14	John Davis	70
2	13	George W Binkley	50
1	12	John D Sanders	50
1	11	Henry Sanders	30
4	11	W K Spiller	31.50
2	10	W K Spiller	with the above price.
2	9	W K Spiller	32
1	8	James Hill	59.25
4	8	James Hill	31
8	5	Elijah Mooneyham	41
4	5	Henry Robertson	76
3	4	John Simpson	66
4	4	Sterling Hill	30
2	1	John D Sanders	15
2	2	John D Sanders	22
2	3	Wm Burns	36
1	3	Wm Burns	15
1	6	Junior Meredith	37
2	6	Junior Meredith	14
1	13	G W Binkley	30
1	14	Willis Allen	23
		TOTAL	$2409.50

The sale of the lots was one of the first sources of revenue for the county, and the aggregate constituted a liberal sum with which to defray the cost of construction of the public buildings.