I want to thank Paul Drake for his private suggestions. Please feel free to
provide me feedback to enhance my understanding:
Survey - A Survey of one's land was scheduled after obtaining a Warrant. It
was the responsibility of the patentee to hire two chain carriers and to
show the land's boundary to the surveyor. The Survey was made using a
compass on a staff (transit), not a tripod, and a 66 foot Gunter's Chain.
The surveyor prepared two copies of the plat using a compass, dividers and
parallel rules. Legally, the patentee had one year to submit the plat,
surveyor's certificate and pay the fees to the Land Office in Williamsburg
for a Patent. At some risk, a Survey might be held for years before applying
for a Patent or it could be transferred or sold. One motive for delaying the
filing for a land Patent was to avoid paying the Quitrents - an annual land
tax of one Shilling per 50 acres to the King of England. [20, 21, 22]
Chain Carrier - Often abbreviated "CC" in Northern Neck surveys. The survey
chain used in Virginia during the colonial period was a "Gunter's Chain" - a
66 foot chain made of 100 thin iron links measuring 7.92 inch each and
weighing about 20 pounds total. A Chainman didn't require much training
other than being able to pull the chain taut and steady while measuring.
Other duties would include cutting brush/trees so the Surveyor operating the
transit (a compass on a staff) could see from point to point, and carrying
equipment. Chain Carriers were almost always listed for the Northern Neck
surveys and were a good indication of who was young, strong and resided in
the neighborhood. A Virginia law of 1725 required that the prospective land
owner pay 2 Shillings and 7 Pence per day for each Chain Carrier. By English
law, the length of a Rod was established as 16 1/2 feet in 1277. [20, 21,
22]
1 Chain = 66 feet =22 yards=100 links
1 Rod, Pole, or Linear Perch = 16.5 feet = 5 ˝ yards= 25 links
10 Chains = 660 feet = 220 yards = 1/8 mile= 1 furlong
1 Acre = an area measuring 1 Chain in width by 10 Chains (1 furlong) in
length
[20] . Rys Isaac, Letter to the Editor, (William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd
Series, XXXI 1974), 530.
[21]. Robert Vernon, "How Land Was Granted in Colonial Virginia", (Central
Virginia Heritage, Vol. 12, No. 1 1994), 1.
[22] . Sarah S. Hughes, “Surveyors and Statesmen: Land Measuring in Colonial
Virginia” (The Virginia Surveyors Foundation, Ltd., 1979)
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