Consider the following 17th-century Virginia land patent abstract:
“MATHEW PRICE, son and heire to JOHN PRICE, late of Va., labourer, 150 acs. Henrico Co., upon Turkey Island Cr., 23 May 1638, p. 558. E. by S. upon sd. Cr., W. by N. toward Bremo, S. by W. upon land granted to his late father, now in possession of his mother ANN HALLOM, widdowe, towards the gr. River & N. by E. into the woods. Due in right of his father who had a patent of 150 acs. Granted 20 Feb.1619. by SIR GEORG YEARDLY.”
It is no exaggeration to say that this patent-in-brief, filed by Mathew Price of Henrico County, holds a wealth of information. It tells us the names of Mathew’s parents, including his mother’s maiden name; the precise location of the land–including landmarks and water courses–the date the patent was filed, and the name and date of the grant upon which Mathew’s patent is based.
Not every early land patent identifies the relatives of the patentee; however, patents always place him at a particular time and place and, almost always, state the names of the owners of the lands adjacent to the patent–tempting clues, in other words, for the genealogist as detective.
Mathew Price’s patent was originally abstracted for publication by Louise Pledge Heath Foley for the first book of a three-volume series entitled, EARLY VIRGINIA FAMILIES Along the James River: Their Deep Roots and Tangled Branches. Volume I covers the patents for Henrico and Goochland counties from 1632 to 1732. Volume II pertains to Charles City and Prince George counties, while the concluding volume takes up the patents for James City and Surry counties. Each volume includes a map of the area that shows the names of the families associated with their respective properties, many of them having resided in the area over many generations. For more information on this extraordinarily rich source of early colonial Virginia landowners, please consult the brief descriptions of the volumes below.
Louise Foley abstracted the land records from the 14 volumes of Patent Books for the period 1632 to 1732 pertaining to Henrico County and that part of Henrico that was removed to form Goochland County. The abstracts give the name of the patentee, location and acreage of the patent, date of settlement, copious references to family members and owners of adjoining properties, and, most important, the names of the settlers brought over as “headrights.” The final section of the book contains the Quit Rent Rolls for Henrico County, Charles City County, and New Kent County, 1704-05. View Book Details
This volume pertains to Charles City County and that part of Charles City County south of the James River from which Prince George County was formed in 1703. The main body of the text consists of a chronological series of land patent abstracts giving the name of the patentee, location and acreage of the patent, date of settlement, references to family members and owners of adjoining properties, and, most important, the names of the thousands of settlers brought over as “headrights.” Mrs. Foley has also transcribed the Quit Rent Rolls for Charles City County and Prince George County for 1704-05. View Book Details
This volume pertains to James City County and that part of James City County south of the James River that was cut off to form Surry County in 1652. Mrs. Foley abstracted the land records from the 14 volumes of Patent Books for the period 1623 to 1732, which are now located in the Virginia State Archives. The main body of the text consists of a chronological series of abstracts giving the name of the patentee, location and acreage of the patent, date of settlement, and, most important, the names of the thousands of settlers brought over as “headrights.” A separate section contains the Quit Rent Rolls for James City and Surry counties, 1704-05. View Book Details
