Collections

Papers pertaining to caveats entered in the Land Office. In addition to notices of caveats entered, the papers include copies of surveys, warrants, explanations regarding the entry of caveats, and decisions in the cases. The papers cover the years between 1782 and 1923, with some years missing. The caveats were also indexed chronologically; see LOI 55.

These records contain records generally related to the operations of the Land Office but which do not fit into any existing series, including memoranda pertaining to searches of the records made by office clerks for unnamed individuals, warrants, post office box receipts, unrecorded caveats and surveys, preemption certificates not of record, and fragments.

Certificates, 1774-1780, showing that proof of military service during the colonial wars was presented to and accepted by the issuing authority, either a county court or Lord Dunmore, the royal governor. Dated 1774, 1779, and 1780, the certificates include the name of the soldier; his rank, unit, and length of service; the county in which his service was proved, which was not necessarily his county of residence; and, on the reverse, the number assigned the certificate and any assignments which may have been made on the certificate up to the time the warrant was issued.

These records contain copies of outgoing letters from John W. Richardson, Register of the Land Office, whose position had included the duties of the superintendent of weights and measures since 1867. The records include correspondence related to laws on standardization of weights and measures; maintenance of the grounds of Capitol Square and orders related to Capitol Square; a request to William Redfield, Secretary of Commerce for a copy of a speech; and distribution of information on county and city sealers. A majority of the letters date to 1922.

These records contain a list recording in columns the names of those counties formed by 1861, including the date of formation and the name of the original county from which the new county was formed. Those counties which became part of West Virginia in 1863 are marked by an asterisk, although two counties which remained in Virginia are marked as becoming part of West Virginia.

The record contains a list divided into eleven columns, all blank except for the first three. The number of the warrant, the name of the person to whom it was issued, and his rank are recorded. However, the columns noting the regiment or corps in which he served, the date he entered service, the term of his service, and the date he resigned or was discharged for the first, second, and third enlistments, or "engagements," are blank.

These records contain lists of judgements on caveats passed down by the Supreme Court for the district of Kentucky during the March, June, and September terms in 1785, and the March, June, and November terms of 1786. The lists vary in format, but they all contain in either column or paragraph form the names of the disputing parties, the number of acres under dispute, the county in which the land was located, and the judgment rendered in each instance.

These records contain original preemption (prior settlement) warrants which were returned to the Land Office for exchange. Included are preemption warrants numbered 1-404 and exchanged from 1780 March to 1808 December. The warrants contain the name of the claimant (and/or his assignee), the amount of land due, and the reason why it is due. For most, if not all, of the warrants the land was due "on preemption as by certificate from the Commissioners of the District of Monongalia, Yohogania, and Ohio", and a sum of money paid. In some instances, supplemental papers of explanation pertaining to the exchange accompany the warrant. Often the additional note certifies that there is not waste or unappropriated land adjoining the said settlement.

These records contain printed vouchers, signed by the state auditor, on which warrants were issued. Each voucher contains the amount of money paid into the treasury by an individual and the number of acres to which this sum entitled him. The basis for the allowance, whether by the act establishing the Land Office or by any one of several special acts under which land was available, is also recorded. The records cover the period from 1787 to 1948. After 1926, each warrants include a certificate addressed to surveyors, a receipt, and sometimes a cover letter from the Comptroller's Office. Many of the warrant numbers covered in the range are not present, either because they were not used or because the warrants are missing.