A Guide to the Virginia Governor's Office escheated land records, 1811-1860 Governor, Office of the, Escheated land records 44639

A Guide to the Virginia Governor's Office escheated land records, 1811-1860

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 44639

Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

Processed by: Jessie R. Graham

Repository

The Library of Virginia

Accession Number

44639

Title

Virginia Governor's Office escheated land records, 1811-1860

Extent

.45 cu. ft. (1 box)

Collector

Virginia. Office of the Governor

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia Governor's Office escheated land records, 1811-1860. Accession 44639, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information is unavailable.

Historical Information

The act that established the Land Office on 22 July 1779, provided for a Register to be at the head, who would be "appointed from time to time, by joint ballot of both houses of assembly...." The act which established the Land Office passed the General Assembly on 22 June 1779. It was the responsibility of the Register to carry out the very carefully structured legislation which provided the procedure for obtaining waste and unappropriated lands.

Escheat is a common law doctrine put in place to ensure that property is not left in limbo and ownerless after the death of its owner. A parcel of land is escheated, or transferred to the state, when a person dies intestate (without a will or rightful heirs). In the Commonwealth of Virginia, each locality had an escheator who kept track of ownerless land. The escheator was required by law to publicize the possible escheat of land in a newspaper or at the county courthouse. Once it was determined that a parcel of land had no rightful owner, the escheator reported the escheat to the Register of the Land Office. In some cases, an inquisition was held by the local escheator to determine whether any heirs existed or whether the heirs had rightful title to the land in question. After the county and city escheators reported to the Register of the Land Office, the Register was required to forward the information directly to the governor.

Scope and Content

Contains escheated land records collected by the Governor's Office over the span of several decades and administrations. How the records came to be in one place is unknown. Included are escheated land files created by city and county escheators and sent to the Register of the Land Office, as well as lists of escheated land created by the Register of the Land Office and submitted to the governor.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I. Escheated land files, 1811-1860 Series II. Lists and reports of escheated land, 1812-1852

Contents List

Series I. Escheated land files , 1811-1860 .

Box 1

Extent: 15 folders.

Contains numbered files sent by a county or city escheator to the Register of the Land Office. Most files contain only one case, but some feature several cases. This depended upon how often the escheator communicated with the Register and how many cases he oversaw during a particular time period. In the event that one file number contains multiple cases, the name of each deceased land owner is recorded on the folder and in the content list. Once the Register received the cases, the information was forwarded directly to the Governor. The files often contain only a letter from the county or city escheator to the Register, but some contain lengthly inquisition documents, correspondence, lists of heirs, plats, and other records that prove whether a parcel of land should be escheated to the commonwealth. Researchers should also note that many of the cases involve land in counties that are now part of West Virginia.

Arranged according to the number written on the particular file. This numbering scheme is also roughly chronological. Each file is labeled with its number, the name of the deceased owner(s), the locality, and the date range.

Box 1 Folder 1
No. 1, John Flinn, Wood County, 1811 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 2, John Grayham and John McMurray, Prince Edward County, 1811 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 3, John Marshall and James Smith, Louisa County, 1811 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 4, Carlos Don Quioxette, Brooke County, 1812 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 5, Gideon Batchelor, Brooke County, 1812-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 7, Alexandar McNiel, Southampton County, 1813-1825 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 8, Thomas McBroom, Brooke County, 1813-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 9, John Reid and Don Carlos Quioxette (No. 4), Brooke County, 1813-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 10, Alexander Wilson, Amelia County, 1814 .
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 11, Jacob Rubsamon, Pittsylvania County, 1814-1821 [contains plat] .
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 12, Robert Heblethwait, Dinwiddie County, 1814-1816 .
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 13, Robert Galloway, Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, 1815-1816 .
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 14, Alexander Willson, Amelia County, 1816-1818 .
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 15, John McLoud, Chesterfield County, 1817-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 3
No. 16, John McMurray and John Fisher, Prince Edward County, 1817-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 3
No. 17, Mark McCausland and Mingo Green, Brooke County, 1814-1819 .
Box 1 Folder 3
No. 21, William Shanks, Nansemond County, 1819-1821 .
Box 1 Folder 3
No. 23, William Echols, Halifax County, 1820-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 3
No. 24, Michael Pender, Halifax and Pittsylvania Counties, 1820-1823 .
Box 1 Folder 4
No. 26, John Creager, Wythe County, 1819-1830 .
Box 1 Folder 4
No. 27, Henry Fletcher, Spotsylvania County, 1819-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 4
No. 28, John Wilson, Cabell County, 1819-1822 .
Box 1 Folder 4
No. 29, Alexander Grant, Brooke County, 1821-1823 .
Box 1 Folder 4
No. 30, David Doyle, Lewis County, 1821-1830 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 31, James Guinn, Cabell County, 1822-1824 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 32, John McMara, City of Richmond, 1821-1823 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 33, George May, Russell County, 1820-1821 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 34, James Urrey, Bedford County, 1822-1824 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 35, John Bostick and Robert Donald, Prince Edward County, 1823-1826 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 36, Adam Melchor, Wood County, 1823-1824 .
Box 1 Folder 5
No. 37, James Foulis, Halifax County , 1823-1824 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 38, Alexander Frazier, Middlesex County, 1822-1825 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 39, William Vicory, King William County, 1823-1825 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 40, Marcus Levy, City of Richmond, 1823-1824 .
Box 6 Folder 6
No. 41, Joseph Wilson, Fluvanna County, 1823-1831 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 42, Samuel Johnston, Fairfax County, 1812-1825 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 43, Isaac Michaels, John Dunsmore, and William Keer, Chesterfield County, 1823-1825 .
Box 1 Folder 6
No. 45, George Carson, Harrison County, 1824-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 46, John Irwin, Cabell County, 1824-1837 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 47, Margaret Barnes and Patience Barnes, City of Richmond, 1825-1835 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 48, Henry Keating and George Duncan, Gloucester County, 1825-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 49, John Irwin, Cabell County, 1825-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 50, Mary Drayton, Middlesex County, 1825-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 51, James Marshall, Ohio County, 1826-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 7
No. 52, Henry Jones, Wythe County, 1824-1827 .
Box 1 Folder 8
No. 53, Thomas McCowan, Frederick County, 1826-1827 [contains plat] .
Box 1 Folder 8
No. 54, Robert Hemmings, City of Richmond, 1826-1830 .
Box 1 Folder 8
No. 55, Robert Bell, City of Richmond, 1827-1829 .
Box 1 Folder 9
No. 56, Rudolph Wildrick, Wood County, 1827-1830 .
Box 1 Folder 9
No. 57/58, John J. Waldo, Wood County, 1828-1829 .
Box 1 Folder 9
No. 59, John Fiott, Cabell County, 1831 .
Box 1 Folder 9
No. 60, John Earl of Dunmore (John Murry), Hampshire County, 1832-1833 .
Box 1 Folder 10
No. 61, Margaretta West, City of Richmond, 1835 .
Box 1 Folder 10
No. 62, James Still, Northumberland County, 1835-1838 .
Box 1 Folder 10
No. 63, Job Hammond, Halifax County, 1839-1844 .
Box 1 Folder 10
No. 65, Joseph Weiseger, Petersburg, 1841-1843 .
Box 1 Folder 11
No. 66, John Whitehead, Northampton County, 1842-1844 .
Box 1 Folder 11
No. 67, Claude Martin, City of Richmond, 1842-1843 .
Box 1 Folder 11
No. 68, Thomas Whiting, Clarke County, 1843-1844 .
Box 1 Folder 11
No. 69, James Hickey, Augusta County, 1843-1844 .
Box 1 Folder 11
No. 70, Dr. Thomas Jamieson, Middlesex County, 1843-1852 .
Box 1 Folder 12
No. 71, Adam Bowyer, Pendleton County, 1844 .
Box 1 Folder 12
No. 72, John Crew, Jr., Charles City County, 1845-1847 .
Box 1 Folder 12
No. 73, Dr. Thomas Jamieson, Middlesex County, 1844-1852 .
Box 1 Folder 12
No. 74, Adam Bowyer, Pendleton County, 1844-1846 .
Box 1 Folder 12
No. 75, Elizabeth Minge, Charles City County, 1846 .
Box 1 Folder 13
No. 76, John Fritz, Pendleton County, 1846-1850 .
Box 1 Folder 13
No. 77/78, John Mills, Ann Garvey, Elizabeth Donaldson, William Howard, Harry Taylor and Edward Hughes, Alexandria County, 1848-1853 .
Box 1 Folder 13
No. 79, Charles Blechynden, Pendleton County, 1848-1850 .
Box 1 Folder 13
No. 80/81, James Swann and Emile Dumas, Logan County, 1850-1853 .
Box 1 Folder 14
No. 83, Elizabeth Donaldson, Alexandria County, 1851 .
Box 1 Folder 14
No. 84, Benjamin Andrews, Peter Deal, James Greer, Lewis Moore, John Powell, Michael Pitzer, Daniel Nead, John Shook, Isaac Scott, William Tibbs, William Young, and Andrew Jenkins, Berkeley County, 1851-1853 .
Box 1 Folder 14
No. 85, John Lawrence, Robert McMann and Richard F. Burke, City of Norfolk, 1851-1854 .
Box 1 Folder 14
No. 86, Robert Strickler, Page County, 1852-1853 .
Box 1 Folder 14
No. 87, John Stewart, Petersburg, 1853-1854 .
Box 1 Folder 13
No. 88, Charles O'Hara, Petersburg, 1855-1857 .
Box 1 Folder 15
No. 89, James Corsey, Lancaster County, 1857-1858 .
Box 1 Folder 15
No. 90, John Hightower, Halifax County, 1854-1857 .
Box 1 Folder 15
No. 91, Jacob Myers, Putnam County, 1859-1860 .

Series II. Lists and reports of escheated land , 1812-1852; undated .

Box 1

Extent: 2 folders.

Contains lists of escheated land created by the Register of the Land Office and sent to the governor. The lists include the name of the deceased, the size of the property, its location, and the date of publication.

Arranged chronologically.

Box 1 Folder 16
List of Escheated Land [fragment], 1812-1818 .
Box 1 Folder 16
List of Escheated Lands, 1818 .
Box 1 Folder 16
Report of Publication of Escheated Lands, 1818 .
Box 1 Folder 16
List of Escheated Lands, 1819 .
Box 1 Folder 16
Report of Publication of Escheated Lands, 1823 .
Box 1 Folder 16
List of Escheated Lands, 1824 .
Box 1 Folder 17
List of Escheated Land, 1825 .
Box 1 Folder 17
Statement of Escheated Land, 1826 .
Box 1 Folder 17
List of Escheated Land, 1828 .
Box 1 Folder 17
Report of Publication of Escheated Land, 1829 .
Box 1 Folder 17
List of Escheated Land, Chesterfield County, 1840 .
Box 1 Folder 17
Report of Publication of Escheated Land, 1845 .
Box 1 Folder 17
Report of Publication of Escheated Land, 1852 .
Box 1 Folder 17
List of Escheated Lands Which May Not be Sold, undated .