Surveying Collection
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No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
Survey accounts prepared by individual surveyors for Virginia Counties. Collection also includes licenses, bonds and correspondence. Most of the reports include the name of the purchaser, the amount of acreage surveyed, the fee charged, and the date.
Many of the names have been transcribed in the descriptions, but often the writing is illegible and names are misspelled.
The Royal Charter established the College of William and Mary, and Article XVI appointed the college to serve as the Surveyor-General of the Colony of Virginia and gave the right to examine and license surveyors, collect the license fees and fees for each survey performed.
Dates
- Creation: 1741-1801
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Conditions Governing Use
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Biographical / Historical
In the Royal Charter establishing the College of William and Mary, Article XVI appoints the college to serve as the Surveyor-General of the Colony of Virginia and was given the right to examine and license surveyors, collect the license fees and fees for each survey performed. Any who wished a surveyor's license in the Colony or early State of Virginia had to obtain a license in order to conduct surveys in their assigned county. United States Presidents George Washington and alumnus Thomas Jefferson received licenses to survey in Virginia from William and Mary. After the American Revolution, the rate at which William and Mary granted surveying licenses began to decline drastically and ceased entirely by around 1810
Extent
.5 Linear Feet
Language
English
Arrangement
Collection arranged by name of Virginia county or city, with Kentucky included as an adjacent district.
Custodial History
Moved from University Archives Subject Files in 2020 and processed as a single collection.
- Title
- Guide to the Surveying Collection, 1741-1801
- Author
- Anne Johnson, SCRC staff
- Date
- 2020-1-27
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository