Surveying Collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

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.

Summary

Extent:
.5 Linear Feet
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

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.

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.

Custodial history:

Moved from University Archives Subject Files in 2020 and processed as a single collection.

Arrangement:

Collection arranged by name of Virginia county or city, with Kentucky included as an adjacent district.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard