Sarah Hughes listed the steps to obtain patent, namely registration of
"rights", then entry, then surveying, and finally submission to Jamestown or
Williamsburg where the patent was issued.

Not clear is the point in the process when corner markers and lines were
established on the ground.

Was a tract laid out - were the corner trees chosen and the lines blazed -
before the step of surveying described by Hughes? In this case, the step of
surveying was simply one of measuring pre-determined lines.

And if this was the case, how was the acreage of a tract made to agree with the
"rights"? Did a would-be patentee know enough about surveying to lay out a
tract of area justified by his "rights"?  Did he hire the county surveyor to
lay out the lines between the steps of registration of "rights" and entry?

T.T. Bannister
Dept. of Biology
Univ. of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0211
Tel 585-275-8716
Fax 585-275-2070

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