North Carolina Land and Property: Difference between revisions

Prior to 1728 the border between Virginia and North Carolina was not defined, so many early North Carolina grants were found in Virginia. For example, one of the eight Carolina proprietors, Sir William Berkeley, lived in the American colonies and served as the governor of Virginia. In 1663 he started granting patents for land that was located in the Carolinas. Abstracts of 29 of his patents can be found in volume 1 of:  

Most of the Lords Proprietors began granting land in the Carolinas in 1669, but unfortunately all of the entries, warrants, plats, and patents for 1669 through 1678 are lost. For the time period of 1679 through 1729 the entry records are also lost, but a transcription of some of the surviving warrants and surveys can be found in:  

Many of the original warrants and surveys have been microfilmed in the Land Records, 1600s thru 1957, Land Grant Index listed above. The original land patent books or copies of these books covering 1679–1729, have survived and are located at the North Carolina State Archives. Microfilms of these patent books are not available at the Family History Library. These patent books contain approximately 3,400 patents and are abstracted in:  

'''Headright Patents'''. During the Proprietary Era and ending in 1754, emigrants to North Carolina could obtain entitlement to land patents, usually 50 acres for each family member, friend, or stranger for whom they paid passage. The same rules also applied to those who brought settlers into North Carolina from other American colonies. These requirements changed over time.  

'''Crown Grants.''' Numerous Crown land entries, warrants, and some surveys for this southern area, covering 1735–1774, have been abstracted and can be found in the following three sources:  

No land entry records are known to exist for North Carolina during the years 1729–1734.  

The original Crown patent books are located at the North Carolina State Archives and are not on microfilm at the Family History Library. Abstracts of these patents for the time period of 1735–1775, are found in:  

Quit Rent records for 1729–1732, are found in volume 22, pages 240–258 of William L. Saunders’ ''Colonial Records of North Carolina'' cited fully in [[North Carolina Public Records]].  

His agents began granting land in 1748, and his heirs continued the practice until the death of the second Earl of Granville in 1763. At that time the Granville Office was closed. No further grants were issued in the counties that made up the Granville District until the state of North Carolina obtained these lands in 1777. Abstracts of the entries, warrants, plats, and the approximately 4,000 Granville grants can be found in:  

The original entries, warrants, plats, and grants are located at the North Carolina State Archives and have been microfilmed. These microfilms are not available at the Family History Library. The Granville land office did not use the headright system but sold the land directly to the grantee. The land office also used the term grant instead of patent in describing the official record.  

For the names of the approximately 450 people who obtained a McCulloh patent in the Granville District counties such as Orange, Rowan, and Guilford, plus maps showing the location of the 12 patents or tracts, see:  

'''Resurveyed Lands'''. Certain Crown patents and a few patents that were given during the Proprietary Era were resurveyed. The names of the persons requesting the resurveys as well as all other names involved in the resurvey petitions can be found in:  

'''South Carolina Patents'''. Starting as early as 1735, many North Carolina patents were issued by the Crown for land that was later discovered to be part of South Carolina. These patents were assumed to be part of the North Carolina counties of Anson, Mecklenburg, Bladen, and Old Tryon (abolished 1779). The border between the two states was officially drawn in 1772. After the border survey, the lands formerly granted by North Carolina were registered in the South Carolina Land Memorials and are often called North Patents. South Carolina issued new grants for some of these lands. Many early residents of what later became South Carolina are listed in:  

*Holcomb, Brent H. ''North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina. ''Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1980. {{FHL|291245|item|disp=FS Library Book 975 R28n}}. This source abstracts approximately 680 patents, covering 1749–1773. There is also a list of 169 land owners who petitioned the king in an effort to keep their North Carolina patents after the North and South Carolina border were established.

Many land disputes involving residents of the western counties of North Carolina were taken before a regional superior court. Transcripts of many loose court papers relating to these disputes can be found in volume 2 of:  

'''Suspended Grants'''. Many North Carolina land owners and potential land owners wrote to the governor of North Carolina asking him to not sign certain land grants until true ownership could be determined by a trial. The trials were to be held in the county where the land was located. Details from approximately 1,600 of these disputes showing the names of those involved and covering the years 1776–1836 can be found in:  

'''Loyalist Land Losses'''. Many residents of North Carolina remained loyal to the British Crown during the Revolutionary War. Because of this, their lands were taken from them and sold. Descriptions of many of these lands giving the name of the Loyalist and the name(s) of the new owner can be found in:  

Many names of these Loyalists from 1776 onwards can also be found beginning in volume 10 of the Colonial Records of North Carolina described in [[North Carolina Public Records]].