Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Virginia Land Laws

The "Land Laws of Virginia" were the laws and customs under which new lands were settled and surveyed upon the western waters.  Understanding the process by which land was "taken up" helps one to realize the difficult environment surrounding the founding of Danville, Kentucky.

For those interested, these land laws have been presented and discussed in my blog "The Jones Genealogist".  The site of this information is:

                                                  http://thejonesgenealogist.blogspot.com

The subject and dates are as follows:

      Virginia Land Laws: A Chronology (Part I)  Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part II) Important Rights  Monday, Dec. 20, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part III)  Treasury Rights  Tues., Dec. 21, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part IV)  Escheated Lands  Wed., Dec. 22, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part V)  The Processioning  Thur., Dec. 23, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part VI)  The Surveyors  Tues., Dec., 28, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws (Part VII) Surveyor's fees  Wed., Dec. 29, 2010
      Virginia Land Laws after 1713 (Part I)  Wed., Jan. 5, 2011
      Virginia Land Laws after 1713 (Part II)  Fri., Jan. 7, 2011
      Land Laws Virginia - Meritorious Service  Thur., Jan. 13, 2011
      Land By Rank - Virginia Land Laws 1763  Fri., Jan. 14, 2011
      Virginia Land Laws : Cabin Rights  Sat., Jan. 22, 2011

The last three posts deal with the context of military service.  It was following the French and Indian War that this became the major factor in the early settlement days of Danville, KY.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The Names of 1774

The folks who managed to get their names into the survey books of 1774 were an extra special group of guys.  These were the  first to establish their claims to the land that was to become Danville, Kentucky.  The following is a list of these men who became "official" owners of the land.  This information has been abstracted from "Certificate Book of The Virginia Land Commission 1779-1780".

James Brown, Clark's Run, 1000 acres, p. 215

John Clark, Clark's Run,, 1400 acres, p.22

John Cowan, Clark's Run, 1400 acres, p. 22-23

John Crow, 1400 acres, p.305

Azor Rees, 1000 acres, p.260. [Isaac Shelby was to obtain this land on Knob Lick 1776, p.8]

As best as I can tell, these men were the first to claim Danville, KY.  On survey, 1400 acres would be contained in a 1 mile x 2.2 mile area.  These folks would have roughly a 6 mile square area of land.