"Escheat" means exactly what your dictionary says. The process is
considerably more involved than how I'm going to try to explain it,
but the land would escheat under two circumstances: it was not
properly "seated" ("seated" means that the patentee must with 3 years
of the patent build a wooden house of at least 12 x 12 ft, and plant
at least one acre of ground), or if the patentee died without any
known legal heirs (known as leaving the land "deserted").
In general, the escheatment process required a local judge and
escheatment court to determine the circumstances, which often involved
bringing in local witnesses and the collection of dispositions. If
the local court determined that the land was escheated it was
forwarded to the General Court for review and confirmation. If the
General Court was still determined to have been properly escheated,
then the land was made immediately available for re-patent to the
first applicant (who was often the person who started the process in
the first place).
In your case, it looks like to me that it was William Phillips that
instigated the escheatment process (i.e., he claimed land that someone
else had either not "seated," or had "deserted"), and had the land
re-patented to him in 1663. He probably (just a guess) then passed
this on to John Phillips (a son?, or relative? Or?) either by deed or
will.
Lou Poole, Richardson, TX
-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family
history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sally
Phillips
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-ROOTS] Early Patent Escheat
What does the word "escheated" mean in the following deed abstract?
Deed 1 July 1730 John Phillips and Margery his wife of Westover
Parish, Charles City Co., to James Williams of same, for L 50, land
with houses, part of 700 acres which William Phillips escheated and
had patent granted for 2 Dec 1663; bounded by Moses Creek, Oyster
Shell Poynt, Capt. John Edloe and said Williams, 175 acres. Wit:
Jno. Minge, Isaac Williams, William Woodard Signed: John (J)
Phillips, Margery (M) Phillips Recorded 5 Aug 1730
My dictionary defines escheat as the reversion of property to the
crown or the state after failure of the person legally entitled to the
property.
Did William Phillips fail and did John Phillips get new patent? If
property reverted to the crown, how did John P get it?
There is no such grant or patent in the LOV online database.
Thank you.
Sally Phillips
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