Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Land Office. Correspondence regarding escheated Lands, from the Virginia Land Office, 1813-1868. Accession Land Office inventory entry no. 20, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Archives Branch, Richmond, VA 23219.

Acquisition Information

Accession LOI 20 transferred by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1948.

Historical Information

The act which established the previous Land Office passed the General Assembly on 22 June 1779. The register was the head of the Office and was appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the legislature.

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

These records contain correspondence on lands which reverted or escheated to the commonwealth upon the death of an owner without an heir. These lands could be sold in the locality after proper notice had been given. The series of correspondence consists of information sent to the register that such notice had been given, either in the form of copies of the newspaper advertisements or affidavits to the effect that advertisements had been placed. The notices would run once a week for six weeks in newspapers such as the National Intelligencer, the Richmond Enquirer, or the Richmond Whig. There are also some notices of impending inquests to determine if a tract had been escheated as well as some certificates of sales on escheated lands.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series: