I am attempting to retrace a parcel boundary described in a 1701 land
patent in what is now King William County on a modern USGS map.

Would anyone know : 1) whether true North or magnetic North would
have been used in the patent description, and 2) how many degrees of
declination between true north and magnetic north was observed in the
tidewater in 1701?

I would also like to correspond with anyone - privately is probably
better - who has had experience with this kind of project. Needless
to say, so far I am having some problems getting the polygon to
close. With 2 of the 13 reaches lacking a stated distance maybe I
should not be too surprised. But I am curious just how accurate these
300 year-old patent descriptions have generally proven to be.

I have also been trying to map the parcel using Geographic
Information System (GIS) software (ArcView) over an orthophoto of the
area in question. That leads to a related question. Are GIS systems
now being used in professional historical research? They seem to me
to be potentially very valuable in storing, presenting and sharing
spatial data.

Thanks for your help,

Bibb Edwards
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