In drawing maps of the original patents, there should be gaps between the patents, which are the difference between the original unofficial claim and the patent as surveyed. This difference is the usual explanation for the "waste land" that is found in following surveys.
When the land in the Great Fork, i.e., between the Rappahannock and the Rapidan Rivers, was declared to be in the Northern Neck, this meant that the patents, now called grants, were obtained from the Northern Neck Proprietor. Many people, undertook to have their property resurveyed by an agent of the Proprietor, as though they wished to perfect their deed. At this time a lot of waste land was discovered. People who had been holding land, as yet unpatented, felt that they had better get it included in a Northern Neck grant. The conversion of the land in the Great Fork to the Northern Neck was in the 1740's, so the finding of waste land at this time was an indication that they had been reserving the land without paying the taxes on it for up to twenty years.
When I drew the several maps of patents and grants in the Great Fork, I used the later patents and grants as my principal guide. These were better definitions of the land that a man effectively controlled. The original patents did not fill up the land use, and had gaps between them. The later patents tended to take up all of the space. I have also found that the later patents reflected some horse trading. Two men might swap some of their claims to land to effectively improve the basic value of the tracts.
There was some overlap in the patents which was most likely due to confusion about the extent of the individual tracts. There were insufficient markers to show clearly the boundaries.
That land could be divided into a series of claims with gaps and overlaps was pointed out to me by the original land patents in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Many of these were issued by Virginia but the process was independent of the governing body. In the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, below present Pittsburgh, coal was found underneath the soil. The mining companies wanted to know to whom they had to pay royalties or, if the land was unclaimed, whether they might not claim the mineral rights. So the companies sponsored a remapping of the land claims. It was a mess with many gaps. Overlaps were probably resolved by assigning the land to the first claim. It was an eye-opener to me to see what a chaotic mess these land claims could be.
Anyone who has worked with the patents issued by the Colony of Virginia in the name of the King, and the grants issued by the Proprietor of the Northern Neck, will generally acknowledge that the grants were done better than the patents.
(14 Feb 06)
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.