The patents and grants have been summarized in two series of books which are indispensable guides to the researcher. The series for the patents was started by Nell Marion Nugent, and is called Cavaliers and Pioneers . It has been continued by the Virginia Genealogical Society. The grants were compiled by Gertrude E. Gray in a series called Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants .
The proper way to read these books is to have them in hand and to start with the index. Make lists as you go which cover your fields of interest. Be alert to the spelling, which may be at variance in the original documents with what you might be expecting. My favorite example of this is the series of three patents to the Plunkepees ( Blankenbakers ), Nicholas, Balthasar, and Matthias. I recognized the three given names if not the surname. I have already mentioned the name Adam Eager ( Yager ), which I found in this way. As you read, you will constantly be faced with the question, "Where is that?" Soon you will be learning some of the geography of Virginia.
The great thing about the patents and deeds is that they are online at the Library of Virginia. In five minutes, from your home, you can have the image of any of the patents and deeds at hand. Generally, I find the images of the documents and the descriptions of the land are a little better in the grants than in the patents.
Both series of books are very well indexed. All surnames that are mentioned, including given names, are indexed. Geographical features are indexed only in the patent series. (Looking in three of the books for the patents, from 1695 to 1749, I could find no mention of Fork Mountain.)
Each of the patents or grants describes a piece of land by its metes and bounds * . The metes and bounds are measured distances in specified directions. Sometimes the neighbors are given. Often there will be a mention of a geographic feature. Always the county will be named.
Understanding the description of the tract by its metes and bounds is not difficult, at least in concept. Problems occur with the descriptions which are not internally self consistent and with a lack of clarity as to the location. The patents make great use of phrases, for example, "with the meanders of the water course", until some feature, such as a "red oak" is reached. The grants are more exact and usually give a measured course over the meanders, but not always. The later writing is better than some of the earlier writing which can be faded.
In the Great Fork (the land between the Rappahannock and the Rapidan Rivers), both patents and grants may be found. This arises because the title of the Northern Neck proprietor was not clear as to what constituted the boundary of his lands. At first, the Great Fork was said to be lands of the Crown, but later the lands were said to be in the Northern Neck. In modern day Culpeper, Madison, and Rappahannock counties, you may need to consult both the patents and the grants. One advantage of this is that many people took out a grant for land that had been patented before, so that we have two descriptions of it.
(02 Jul 02)
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"Metes and bounds" refers to specific distance measurements (metes) and definite boundary markers (bounds). For more detailed information on "metes and bounds", go to one of these web sites:
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.