Still yet in Virginia, on November 18 of 1720, the House started their considerations of Spotswood's suggestion that improved security on the western frontiers was needed. The result was the creation of two new counties, Brunswick and Spotsylvania. In order to encourage settlement in the new counties, which was to help secure the borders from the French, land was to be "free". Actually, the language said they would be free of public levies for ten years, without saying what the public levies were.
As has been seen here, all legislative acts passed by the Virginia Assembly were reviewed in England where they were approved, voided, or modified. This legislation would certainly be reviewed, so the force of the legislation would not be known for some time. Furthermore, the Virginians were hoping for a liberal interpretation of the law, which would allow the head right fee of five shillings per fifty acres to be omitted, and would also allow the quit rents to be omitted. The legislation created great interest, pro and con, in England. We have noted already here some of the warnings that were being sounded in England (and it turned out, they were correct).
The legislation placed no restrictions on the size of the grants (patents) which could be made, and it was silent about old land in the new counties which had already been patented. If the language of the Act were interpreted liberally, Spotswood would benefit enormously. The language bore the earmarks of skillful craftsmanship by Spotswood. The justification was for the defense of the English lands in the west, a question that was very much being discussed in England at the time. And, the quantity of the land to be acquired by Spotswood was to be justified by the purpose to which it was to be put, the production of naval stores, which was another item being discussed in England.
The Act was approved in Virginia in December and ten applications for land were made immediately. The smallest was for 3,000 acres, the largest for 20,000 acres. Obviously, some advance planning had taken place. All were in Spotsylvania County, where a spearhead of settlement had been made already by about eighty Germans.
The patent applications were not approved immediately, since Spotswood knew that the Act had to be approved in London. A year and a half later, the Act had not been clarified and it was still ambiguous. In the spring of 1722, rumors abounded that the Lt. Gov. would be replaced. While he still had some authority to act, Spotswood started to issue the patents, including his own (in the names of others), in May of 1722. His 40,000 acre patent was among the ones that he approved. This tract actually contained nearer to 65,000 acres, but the sheer size of the proposed patent probably suggested to him that it would be best if it were understated. When the patent was approved in 1722, the (Second Colony) Germans had already been living on it for more than four years. And it was another three years before the patent was recorded. Due to the delaying tactics, plus the ambiguity of the language in the Act (including the interpretation in England), Spotswood had been in procession of the land for several years, and had not paid anything for it yet. It still was not clear whether he would have to pay something or not.
(15 Sep 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.