Another way in which land was apparently "escheated" was if the patent holder was not an English citizen, as was the case for many French Huguenots (and perhaps others) who settled in Virginia during the 1600's, thus the land was often reverted to the "Crown". Matt Dwyer.....possible descendant of John Broche -----Original Message----- From: Lou Poole <[log in to unmask]> To: VA-ROOTS <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 4:28 pm Subject: Re: Early Patent Escheat "Escheat" means exactly what your dictionary says. The process is onsiderably more involved than how I'm going to try to explain it, ut the land would escheat under two circumstances: it was not roperly "seated" ("seated" means that the patentee must with 3 years f the patent build a wooden house of at least 12 x 12 ft, and plant t least one acre of ground), or if the patentee died without any nown legal heirs (known as leaving the land "deserted"). In general, the escheatment process required a local judge and scheatment court to determine the circumstances, which often involved ringing in local witnesses and the collection of dispositions. If he local court determined that the land was escheated it was orwarded to the General Court for review and confirmation. If the eneral Court was still determined to have been properly escheated, hen the land was made immediately available for re-patent to the irst applicant (who was often the person who started the process in he first place). In your case, it looks like to me that it was William Phillips that nstigated the escheatment process (i.e., he claimed land that someone lse had either not "seated," or had "deserted"), and had the land e-patented to him in 1663. He probably (just a guess) then passed his on to John Phillips (a son?, or relative? Or?) either by deed or ill. Lou Poole, Richardson, TX -----Original Message----- rom: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family istory. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sally hillips ent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:03 PM o: [log in to unmask] ubject: [VA-ROOTS] Early Patent Escheat What does the word "escheated" mean in the following deed abstract? eed 1 July 1730 John Phillips and Margery his wife of Westover arish, Charles City Co., to James Williams of same, for L 50, land ith houses, part of 700 acres which William Phillips escheated and ad patent granted for 2 Dec 1663; bounded by Moses Creek, Oyster hell Poynt, Capt. John Edloe and said Williams, 175 acres. Wit: no. Minge, Isaac Williams, William Woodard Signed: John (J) hillips, Margery (M) Phillips Recorded 5 Aug 1730 y dictionary defines escheat as the reversion of property to the rown or the state after failure of the person legally entitled to the roperty. id William Phillips fail and did John Phillips get new patent? If roperty reverted to the crown, how did John P get it? here is no such grant or patent in the LOV online database. hank you. ally Phillips To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the nstructions at ttp://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at ttp://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html