Another interesting writeup on a book concerning Land research.
CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS OF OLD VIRGINIA
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <myravg(a)prodigy.net>
<
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/>
A hot item offered by the Virginia Genealogical Society's booth
at the recent National Genealogical Society conference in
Richmond, Virginia, was CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS: ABSTRACTS OF
VIRGINIA LAND PATENTS AND GRANTS, Volume VII: 1762-1776 (Dennis
Hudgins, editor). This volume concludes the Virginia patent
abstracts began by Nell Marion Nugent 65 years ago.
The next books in the Land Office Records are titled COMMONWEALTH
GRANT BOOKS and start with a new numbering sequence for the post-
Revolutionary War period and continue into the 20th century.
Although titled COMMONWEALTH GRANT BOOKS, the first 38 pages of
Grant Book E contain the Regal patents that were issued between
May 1, 1775 and March 15, 1776, and these patents are abstracted
and appear in Volume VII of CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS.
One of my ancestor's names appear in this volume (Patent Book No.
35) even though he left Virginia and removed to North Carolina
seven years previously. The land my ancestor once owned is
described as being in what was Augusta County, Virginia in 1763
"on the head springs of James River and Potowmack [sic]" That
description helps to pinpoint more precisely where this land was
located.
Land in the patents was granted at the cost of 10 acres per
shilling, or about 50 acres for each headright transported or
imported, or at two pounds of tobacco for every acre. The costs
were then rounded off to the nearest five shillings, therefore no
pence were charged. In this volume, any cost above 20 shillings
has been converted to pounds. An example of the format and the
rich genealogical details in CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS is shown in
the following entry found on page 29:
"GEORGE FRAZIER, 400 acs. Lunenburgh Co. on both sides of
Twitty's Cr., adj. Charles Talbot & Hugh Boston; 7 Jul 1763, p.
310 for the Importation of 8 persons to dwell within this our
Colony and Dominion of Virginia whose Names are Daniel Campbell,
Robert Philips, Miles Jordan, Alexander Campbell, John Crouder,
Edward Chapman, William Brooks and Joseph Welch. Whereas by Pat.
10 Nov 1757 Gtd. Tully Choice & George Frasier [George Frazer in
PB 33 p. 421 which was a regrant of Matthew Talbot's PB 27, p.
220 dated 25 Jul 1749 & included in Thomas Lipscomb's 1,025 acs.
In PB 33, p. 519 dated 15 Dec 1758] and Whereas the sd Tully
Choice & George Fraiser have failed to pay Quitrents and to make
Cultiv. & Improv. and Alexander Wright hath made humble Suit and
obtained a G. for the same which he hath Assigned unto the sd
George Frasier."
One can thus follow the genealogy of the land, determine its
location, sometimes find immigrant ancestors (those named as
imported), and learn the names of the neighbors (who often turn
out to be related to the patentee's family).
The "Introduction" is a must-read for the history of the land
process in Virginia from 1763 to 1775. Additionally, study the
section on "Patent Forms" for the various types of land patented:
new land, new land--old land, lapsed land, escheat land, land in
trust, church land, glebe land, etc. Abbreviations used in this
work are given on lxxxviii and referral to them helps the reader
to understand the various references found in the old land books.
For example, an "ff" is transcribed as a capital F; a virgule
separates variant spellings within the text and a tilde
overscoring any letter is transcribed as a doubled letter.
CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS: ABSTRACTS OF VIRGINIA LAND PATENTS and
GRANTS, Volume VII: 1762-1776, (cloth), (VGS members $32, all
others $40; Virginia residents must add 4.5% tax; all please add
postage @ $3 for first item, $1 each additional item) is
available from the Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS), 5001 W.
Broad St., Suite 115, Richmond, VA 23230-3023; 804/285-8954. For
more information about VGS publications and membership ($26 per
year) visit <
http://www.vgs.org/> or e-mail <mail(a)vgs.org>.