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Shaking Your Family Tree

June 03, 1999

Shaking Your Family Tree, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

Virginia's Cavaliers and Pioneers

by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

Volume VII of Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1762-1776, edited by Dennis Hudgins, is now available. This volume concludes the invaluable Virginia patent abstracts begun by Nell Marion Nugent 65 years ago. Additionally, the first 38 pages of Grant Book E, containing the Regal patents issued between May 1, 1775 and March 15, 1776, are abstracted and appear in this volume.

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 one can find in Cavaliers and Pioneers is shown in the following entry found on page 29:

GEORGE FRAISER, 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 Fraiser (George Frazer (sic) 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 Fraiser.

One can thus follow the genealogy of the land, determine its location, find immigrant ancestors (those named as imported or transported), and learn the names of the neighbors -- who often turn out to be related to the patentee's family.

One of my ancestor's names appears in this volume (Patent Book No. 35) even though he left Virginia and removed to North Carolina six years previously. In 1763, his former Virginia property is described as being in what was Augusta County, Virginia "on the head springs of James River and Potowmack (sic).'' That description helps to pinpoint more precisely where this land was located.

The introduction is a must-read for the history of the land process in Virginia from 1763 to 1775. Be sure to 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 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), is available from the Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS), 5001 W. Broad St., Suite 115, Richmond, VA 23230-3023; (804) 285-8954. (VGS members $35 postpaid, all others $43 postpaid; Virginia residents should add 4.5 percent tax.)

Additional information about VGS publications and membership ($26 per year) can be obtained by visiting its Web site: http://www.vgs.org/ or contact the society via e-mail: mail@vgs.org.

(c) 1999, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter

Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page
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June 03, 1999
	Virginia's Cavaliers and Pioneers by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
Volume VII of Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1762-1776, edited by Dennis Hudgins, is now available. This volume concludes the invaluable Virginia patent abstracts begun by Nell Marion Nugent 65 years ago. Additionally, the first 38 pages of Grant Book E, containing the Regal patents issued between May 1, 1775 and March 15, 1776, are abstracted and appear in this volume. 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 one can find in Cavaliers and Pioneers is shown in the following entry found on page 29: GEORGE FRAISER, 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 Fraiser (George Frazer (sic) 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 Fraiser. One can thus follow the genealogy of the land, determine its location, find immigrant ancestors (those named as imported or transported), and learn the names of the neighbors -- who often turn out to be related to the patentee's family. One of my ancestor's names appears in this volume (Patent Book No. 35) even though he left Virginia and removed to North Carolina six years previously. In 1763, his former Virginia property is described as being in what was Augusta County, Virginia "on the head springs of James River and Potowmack (sic).'' That description helps to pinpoint more precisely where this land was located. The introduction is a must-read for the history of the land process in Virginia from 1763 to 1775. Be sure to 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 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), is available from the Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS), 5001 W. Broad St., Suite 115, Richmond, VA 23230-3023; (804) 285-8954. (VGS members $35 postpaid, all others $43 postpaid; Virginia residents should add 4.5 percent tax.) Additional information about VGS publications and membership ($26 per year) can be obtained by visiting its Web site: http://www.vgs.org/ or contact the society via e-mail: mail@vgs.org. (c) 1999, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement