Land rentals in Virginia goes back to the earliest years land ownership.
County deed books are replete with leases, and references to tenants are
often found in wills.

The central issue of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-30 was the
enfranchisement of white leaseholders. See Hugh Blair Grigsby, *The
Constitutional Convention of 1839-30, a Discourse Delivered Before the
Virginia Historical Society*, (1854; reprint, New York: Da Caprio Press,
1969) and David L. Pullam, *The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia From
The Foundation To The Present Time*, (Richmond: John T. West, publisher.)

Lord Fairfax imagined he could recreate the manorial land system in
Virginia, with "leases for lives" which was not very successful (why rent
when you can own?), but such places the Manor of Leeds is a good example of
such an effort.

But if you are looking for some sort of comprehensive of lease-holders, I
am not aware of such an animal. However, it is easy enough to extrapolate
by comparing any particular county's annual land tax against its personal
property tax list. Those on the personal property tax list but not on the
land tax list are almost always tenants.

Good luck in your efforts,

Craig Kilby

On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 6:34 PM, Lyle E. Browning <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Has anyone run across rental land from the 17th century to 1865? The
> Agricultural Census tabulations certainly hint that absentee landowners
> were present from the 1840's onward. After 1865 the peculiar institution
> transformed to sharecropping and tenant farming for African-Americans. But,
> the US Agricultural Census tabulations seem to strongly indicate that land
> rental was practiced commonly in the 1840's and presumably earlier. Is
> there any literature that addresses that as a general issue?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Lyle Browning
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html