Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791 [Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia]

This is a little-known but important work on the land grant surveys made between the years 1761 and 1791 in Augusta and Rockingham counties. The importance of the work arises from the fact that the original records of deeds were damaged in a fire in 1864; consequently the land grant surveys take on proportionately greater value as primary source records. There are recorded in these abstracts the name of the person for whom the survey was made, the location of the land, the name of the owner or owners of the adjoining land, the number of acres in the survey, and the date. More than 2,000 names are cited in the text, with approximately 4,000 cited in multiple references in the index. As a sourcebook, this is an ideal companion volume to John Wayland's celebrated "Virginia Valley Records," and it can be used in conjunction with standard Virginia Valley histories by Wayland, Waddell, Peyton, and Kercheval.