1791 Virginia Land Grant Signed By Governor Randolph
This document is a partially printed Virginia land grant from 1791, signed by then-Governor Beverley Randolph. It is a historical legal document on vellum that transfers a tract of land from the Commonwealth to a named individual.
Condition: very good. Three small holes in center fold.
Document Details
Type: Land Grant (a patent or deed for land ownership).
Location Issued: Affixed with the lesser seal at Richmond, Virginia.
Date: Dated to "One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-One" (1791).
Governor: Beverley Randolph served as the Governor of Virginia from 1788 to 1791 and typically signed these land grants.
Purpose: The Virginia government issued these grants to distribute unappropriated land, often as a reward for military service during the Revolutionary War. The recipient was required to occupy and improve the land within a certain timeframe to retain the patent.
Physicality: The document is a printed form, completed with handwritten details (manuscript insertions), typical for the period.
Historical Context
After the Revolutionary War, Virginia had extensive land claims, including a large area northwest of the Ohio River (which included parts of modern-day Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia). The land office was established to manage these grants, which were a key method of land acquisition in the new commonwealth. The land's location would have been detailed in the manuscript sections, defining its exact boundaries, often near specific geographical features.
This document is a partially printed Virginia land grant from 1791, signed by then-Governor Beverley Randolph. It is a historical legal document on vellum that transfers a tract of land from the Commonwealth to a named individual.
Condition: very good. Three small holes in center fold.
Document Details
Type: Land Grant (a patent or deed for land ownership).
Location Issued: Affixed with the lesser seal at Richmond, Virginia.
Date: Dated to "One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-One" (1791).
Governor: Beverley Randolph served as the Governor of Virginia from 1788 to 1791 and typically signed these land grants.
Purpose: The Virginia government issued these grants to distribute unappropriated land, often as a reward for military service during the Revolutionary War. The recipient was required to occupy and improve the land within a certain timeframe to retain the patent.
Physicality: The document is a printed form, completed with handwritten details (manuscript insertions), typical for the period.
Historical Context
After the Revolutionary War, Virginia had extensive land claims, including a large area northwest of the Ohio River (which included parts of modern-day Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia). The land office was established to manage these grants, which were a key method of land acquisition in the new commonwealth. The land's location would have been detailed in the manuscript sections, defining its exact boundaries, often near specific geographical features.