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