“…. unto Samuel Smith a tract of land containing two hundred acres lying & being in Craven County on the N side of Neuse River beginning at a red oak on Fan Branch …. Red oak on a hill above the River then the meanders of the River to the mouth of faun branch the N 10 W up the branch to the first station ….”
This parcel of land lies to the north east of Samuel’s 200A 1741 parcel and on the opposite side of the Neuse River.
The parcel begins on the a branch which is called ‘Fan’ and ‘faun’ within the text of the patent. In a deed in 1777 from Samuel Smith Sr to Samuel Smith Jr the branch is written again as ‘faun’.
This old English verbiage could be just describing the branch as calling it a bending branch or in this case a faun branch. I don’t think this branch is called the Fan Branch but more research is needed to be conclusive.
digging our roots 
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