Washington County, Virginia Deed Book 2, 1797-1802.
Transcribed by Jack Hockett, compiled by Donald Helton. 2013.
From the Introduction:
The WCV (Washington Co VA) DB (Deed Book) 2 begins with a deed of 15 Aug 1797 and ends 552 pages later (two page numbers (23 & 24) are used twice) with a deed of 23 Sep 1802. The arrangement of the deeds is usually, although not always, chronological. Deeds are not witnessed in probably over ½ of the instances, the required joining of the spouse to the act of indenture and the relinquishment of dower, etc. seem to also be oft casually ignored – but sometimes acted upon years later. Most deeds contain a warrant clause to protect against any other possible claims, but this is not always the case; both pounds and dollars are used in this DB as payment with the former being the most common currency employed. The spelling is mostly in Oxonian English – used in WCV by clerks long after the Revolution.
The metes and bounds (coordinates) for this DB have also been transcribed despite a multitude of difficulties to include working principally off a deficient 1953 film for the subject DB, the handwriting of multiple clerks and assistant clerks and a plethora of other problems. I am indebted to Mr. Robert “Bob” Ford/Ms. Donna Jean Ray Ford (CA), for their great help to provide proofreading for the entirety of the DB, using actual deed copies or the film itself to which they have access – all requiring an inordinate amount of time and detail, especially the proofreading of Robert Ford, WCV land expert. As well, the FHS of LDS at Newark, DE site are acknowledged for their kind patience and help and for providing a “best copy available” of the DB 2. Nevertheless, particularly as concerns the metes and bounds, a host of discrepancies can sometimes be found among the deed (the interpretation of the numerals and written figures aside), the survey, the land grant, and the patent, so anyone wanting to achieve “true perfection” (if such could be reached) in this area might well need to consult multiple documents, to include minute books in which contain info regarding the ordering of resurveys (corrective surveys) – an arduous and difficult path, indeed!
It is hoped that this work will also assist, along with DB 1, in pinpointing the principal areas from which early WCV inhabitants migrated, assisting therewith to understand the early cultural roots of the first settlers.
A few brief, “take or leave” annotations have been made to this DB using primarily records I have collected over the years supplemented with info from ancestry and rootsweb, etc. and, as well the dozens of WCV records I have abstracted over the years (as well abstracted by J. & R. Niemann, S. Ireson, V. Cuddy, et al). Two other works were consulted numerous times: (1) Brown, D. E. The Marriages of WCV 1781-1853...(Hist Soc WCV). 1993 and (2) Colley, Thomas. WCV Surveys & Commrs.’ Certificates 1781-1797,New Papyrus Publishing Co. 1999.
The original work (WCV DB 2) included a “locator index”, which has only partially survived; on most films it is nearly all unreadable (but can be read at the Library of VA). It is not transcribed here as perhaps over ½ the letters are missing and would add little to the work. Mr. Donald Helton has provided the every-name index.
107-WDB2
