In Virginia the law of entail was abolished in 1776 and primogeniture
was eliminated in 1785.  After 1785, the VA law provided for equal
sharing of real property among all the heirs - both male and female. An
excellent source for this is C. Ray Keim, Primogeniture and Entail in
Colonial Virginia, William and Mary Quarterly, Volume XXV, No. 4
(October 1968), Pages 550-551.  The article may be accessed via JSTOR on
site at the Library of Virginia.

____________________________________
John D. Metz, Director
Collection Management Services 
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street 
Richmond, VA 23219
 
Phone: (804) 692-3607
Fax: (804) 692-2277 
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