Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia. Land Office. Defective surveys, A-Z, from the Virginia Land Office, 1761-1872. Accession Land Office inventory entry no. 46, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Archives Branch, Richmond, VA 23219.

Acquisition Information

Accession LOI 46 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. The office of the Superintendent of Weights and Measures was abolished by an act of 7 February 1867, and his duties were transferred to the register of the Land Office. The records of the Land Office which were in the custody of the Secretary of the Commonwealth were transferred to the State Library, and, by Act of Assembly on 5 March 1952, the duties of the regsiter of the Land Office were transferred from the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the state librarian.

Scope and Content

Surveys which were not carried into grants because of technical defects. Among the more common defects are the use of depleted warrants, the use of warrants issued after the survey was returned, and the omission of the names of persons participating in the survey. These surveys give the names of the person for whom the survey was returned and the surveyor and his assistants, the name of the county in which the land was located and a description of that land, the type and number of the warrant employed, and the date on which the survey was made.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Virginia. Land Office

Subjects:

• Surveying -- Virginia.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Land surveys -- Virginia -- Washington County.
• State government records -- Virginia