Iberian Publishing Company's On-Line Catalog:
Richmond County Virginia

---

RICHMOND CO., VA DEED BOOK 15, 1779-1788 Abstracted, annotated and compiled by Craig M. Kilby. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2, x, 137 pages, 2015.
From the Introduction:
People Move—Land Doesn’t
Land records are an often under-utilized group of records by genealogists. I suppose the reason is that people generally do not understand them, or think they are boring and could not possibly contain any useful information. But people have to live somewhere. And while people move, land is in a permanently fixed place. When one considers that deeds often serve in lieu of wills, and often recite generations of family history that cannot be found elsewhere, the importance of using and understanding land records becomes obvious.
.......
Richmond County Deed Book 15 covers an interesting period of time in both Virginia and American history. It begins while the Revolutionary War is raging, and takes us through the period of the Confederation and into the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Those things by themselves do not mean much in terms of land ownership, but they mean a lot in terms of where people were living and the value of money.

The Northern Neck of Virginia was in a major stage of transition during this period. Once a bedrock of the Tidewater aristocracy, it was quickly ushered into a period of major out-migration and chronic stagnation. Still, the land did not move, and people still owned it and people still lived on it. This of course includes tenant farmers, slaves and free blacks. In addition to deeds and leases, this book also contains records of other types, such as apprenticeships, bonds, bills of sale, deeds of gift and tithable lists. There is a letter from Havannah informing the owners of the schooner Rappahannock that it had been salvaged and could be returned in good condition if they wanted to pay the cost. In another case, one young woman makes a public apology to another young woman for saying unkind things about her.

...There are five major components to this book:

First, a general index to grantors and grantees, to enable the reader to quickly find a specific deed if one of the parties is already known or suspected.

Second, the main body of the deed book itself. If mentioned in the deed, previous conveyances from other record books, either by deed or by will, have usually been noted and often annotated.

Third, a comprehensive index to names.

Fourth, an index of plantations, streams, places, warehouses, roads and waterways.

Last is a listing of names and residences of people during this period who were not living in Richmond County at all.

---

RICHMOND CO., VA DEED BOOK 16, 1788-1793 Abstracted, annotated and compiled by Craig M. Kilby. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2, vi, 114 pages, 2015.
The New Normal
This deed book covers the period from 1788 to 1793. George Washington is President, the Revolutionary War is receding into history, primogeniture has been repealed, and the U.S. Constitution has been ratified. The only thing still unsettled is a national currency. It is not surprising that this deed book reflects a general “winding down” and settling up of affairs. Estates are settled, out-of-area heirs are ending their ties to their home counties, and properties are being consolidated. Old families are dying out, and a new group of landowners is taking shape.

To be sure, the old-line families are still represented here. The marriage contract between Robert Beverley, Jr. of Essex County and Jane Tayloe is a good example, though Beverley’s father’s contribution to the marriage is the 1,000 acre Ewehill Plantation in far-off Culpeper county and 60 slaves. Jane Tayloe’s contribution is her “fortune” as the daughter of the extremely wealthy Col. John Tayloe, under the care of her old-guard guardians. The Carters are still represented, but rarely in the role of acquiring new land, and more often are settling up previous issues. The Lees make their appearance as well, again in a “winding down” of affairs.

The new landowners are not really new. They had been there all along. But we gather some of them are moving up a notch, and slowly assuming duties once reserved to the former elites. On the other hand, a number of them are moving down a notch, as evidenced by the number of recorded mortgages of land and personal property. In essence, the water is leveling out, and becoming the “new normal.”

At the end of the day, of course, land never moves. Only people do. This deed book is but a chronicle in time of the people who passed over it.

This book is arranged in five sections. First, a general index to principal parties to enable the reader to quickly identify a specific deed or transaction. Second is the main body of the deed book itself, annotated with previous deeds of conveyances and wills devising land. Considerable genealogical material is presented in this section. Third is a comprehensive name index, followed by two appendices: one for places, streams, mills, warehouses and plantations and the other for out-of-county residents.

---

RICHMOND CO., VA 1810 CENSUS transcribed by John Vogt. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2, x, 17 pages, maps, illus.. full name index. This is the first surviving census for Richmond County, since both the 1790 and 1800 censuses have been lost. The transcription is in its sequential original order as the enumerator traveled from home to home recording the statistics. Richmond was one of the early settlements in the Northern Neck in the late seventeenth century and it has been the scene of numerous historic events.

Individual County Booklets, 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners

[Vd88] $6.00

---

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:

[EVd88] $4.00     (electronic version)

---

Richmond Co. Revolutionary Public Claims transcribed by Janice L. Abercrombie and Richard Slatten.. 2005. 20 pages, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the Virginia Revolutionary Public Claims and a listing of available counties, see: Revolutionary "Publick" Claims series


To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Richmond
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog)

[Pc58] $6.00     (printed version)

---

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:

[EPc58] $3.50     (electronic version)

---

For records pertaining to RICHMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA see:

• King George County
• Guide to Virginia Militia Units in the War of 1812
• Chart on the Formation of Virginia Counties
• Atlas of County Boundary Changes in Virginia, 1634-1895
• Index to the 1810 Virginia Census

---

|| Virginia/W.Va. || General Reference || Military Records ||
|| Other States || E-Books || New Titles || Home Page || E-Books ||

---

Copyright 2024 Iberian Publishing Company