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Library of Virginia
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Processed by: Jessie R. Graham
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Virginia Governor's Office escheated land records, 1811-1860. Accession 44639, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition information is unavailable.
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.
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.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I. Escheated land files, 1811-1860 Series II. Lists and reports of escheated land, 1812-1852Contains 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.
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.