This week’s Monday’s Diggings takes me back once again to Randolph County, North Carolina, and to another land record involving Adam Broils. This deed documents the sale of 100 acres on Coatley’s Creek to Benjamin Rush, a transaction that is notable not just for the land itself, but for the family relationship behind it.
Benjamin Rush was the son of Crafford Rush and Mary Brile, and Mary Brile was the sister of Adam Broils. That relationship makes Benjamin Adam’s nephew, adding an important layer of context to what might otherwise appear to be a routine land sale. When land transactions occur between close relatives, they often reflect family strategies—helping the next generation establish themselves, consolidating property, or redistributing inherited land.
As with many early North Carolina deeds, the legal language is dense, but the details embedded in the description, boundaries, and consideration can reveal both geographic and family connections. Below is a full transcription of the deed, preserving the original wording while allowing us to take a closer look at how land, kinship, and community intersected along Coatley’s Creek in the late eighteenth century.
Randolph County North Carolina
Deed Book 7 page 21“Randolph, North Carolina, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L967-YSTX?view=explore : Dec 20, 2025), image 504 of 715; . Image Group Number: 007560686
Film 7560686
image 504 of 71521
This Indenture Made this fourth day of November
and in the year of our Lord 1788 Between Adam Broile of the County of
Randolph & State of North Carolina of the one part & Benjamin Rush
of the County & State affsd of the other part Witnesseth that for &
Inconsideration of the sum of One Hundred pounds Current Money
of the Sd State to him in hand paid by the sd Benjamin Rush
the Receipt whereof the Sd Adam Broil Doath hereby Acknowledge
hath given granted bargained & Sold Elined enfeoffed & Confirm
& by these presents giveGrant bargain Sell aline Enfeoff & Confirm
unto the said Benjamin Rush him his heirs & assigns forever
All that tract and parcel of Land Situate Lying & Being in the County
of Randolph & an Coatleys Creek Begining at a Black Oak
in Rushes Line & Runing East three Chns & a half to his Corner
White Oak then North on sd line fifteen Chnsr to a pine then East 20
Chs to a posrt oak thence South forty four Chs to a Stake thence
West 23 & a half Chs to a Stake in the old line thence North on
said Luce to the Begining Containing one Hundred Acres all
Which tract & parcel of Land the Said Adam Braile Togeather with
all Woods Watters Mines Phinseals Hereditaments & appurtenances to sd
Land Belonging appertaining to Hold to the Sd Benjamin
Rush this Heirs & assigns forever free & Clear from all in
cumbranes as Whatsoever the Sums of Mary Yearly or otherwise
General assembley hereaftere from time to time May Direct only
[Exempted] sd Adam Broils & Elizabeth his Wife them or either of them
their Heirs Exer Admr Do further Covenant & Agree to & with the
Sd Benjamin his Heirs & assigns the the Sd AdamBroil & Elsbeth’
his wife them or either of them their Heirs & Assigns at any time [further]
settle any other Conveyance or conveyances that the said to Benj
Rush attorney Learned in Law for the more Better & filed
assurance of the above Described Land & premises to the Said Benj
Rush his Heirs & assigns forever provided always that such other
Conveyance shall be at the [least] of him the sd Benjamin Rush
& contain no other Warranter than what is contained in these
[preassent]s In Witness the have hereby set their hands & Seals the
day & year above Written
State of North Carolina
Randolph County ⎬ August Term 1796
The Execution of the foregoing Deed of Conveyance was fully
proved in Open Court by William Boyd & ordered to be Registered
Copy Test [I] Harper CC[t]
This deed adds another valuable piece to the Broils–Rush family story, showing how land and kinship were closely intertwined in early Randolph County. Knowing that Adam Broils sold this tract on Coatley’s Creek to his nephew, Benjamin Rush, gives the transaction added meaning beyond its legal wording and acreage. Records like this help place family relationships on the landscape, tying names in a pedigree chart to real property and real places. Each deed transcribed and analyzed brings the Broils and Rush families into sharper focus and deepens our understanding of how they lived, worked, and supported one another in North Carolina.