Any Poythress Mentions in Virginia Patents and Grants Records Database (1637- 1780)
Originally compiled by John Maynard Poythress, this compilation tries to include every grant in which the surname is even mentioned, including those obscure “along the property line of”, etc. (N = 128 Records)
This narrowly focused database is an attempt to produce a practical and workable “Poythress” document as opposed to the problems one typically meets in working with the myriad of databases composing the huge total of Virginia patent/grant information.
The total Virginia patent/grant database is available in many forms of copies, transcriptions, and abstracts; all of which are public domain material in these forms. The total database is online in an abbreviated form at http://www.directlinesoftware.com/home; also at this site is a first rate explanation of procedural matters in the issuing of grants and patents. The proprietary product of this site is the DeedMapper® software. DeedMapper® seems to aspire to eventually locate all of the colonial grants by expanding known contiguous boundaries to “progressively” plot them all….presumably as long as the customers keep paying for them.
Patent information is also online at the Library of Virginia site. A number of printed compilations exist, perhaps the most comprehensive of which is the abstracts collection of “Cavaliers & Pioneers” in 5 volumes by Nell Marion Nugent. While it’s likely ownership of these volumes would almost be a must for the professional genealogist, the abstracted brevity of the entries is sometimes a problem for our purposes.
With the probable exception of the Nugent volumes, it appears that for these compilations everyone has most of the information (in one form or another) but most don’t have it ALL and that presents something of a problem that this database tries to deal with.
This listing tries to include ALL Poythress entries and the following describes the “format” used:
1) the list is chronological with the date shown first and the name of the patentee or grantee shown immediately thereafter. Chronology seems to be the best answer for “organization” purposes.
2) the patent and grant information comes from various sources it is in various formats. The “long” form is preferred and is used throughout except where the patent or grant is not immediately available (or was not found) in the “long” form. Typically the problem with these shorter recordings is the truncating of information. It is the intention with this database to replace the various “short” forms with the “long” complete versions when and as they are sent to me to replace the abstracts.
3) this list tries to include every grant in which the surname is even mentioned, including those obscure “along the property line of”, etc. While these are in some instances purposely shortened, the inclusion of at least “the entry” is to accommodate the eventual ambitious soul who will want to use DeedMapper® to plot the location of one or more grants. For the benefit of that individual, the “mention” will be “in place” and the patent book number and page cited for his or her eventual location. While this “crowds” the database, it is deemed a lesser evil than omitting the references entirely.
4) in all instances the initial “name” to the patent or grant is spelled as in the original document; the various spellings are often critical in dating periods and identifying branches of the family using variant spellings; i. e. “Portis.” However, it is recognized that a document of this length (which will only grow longer as more information is uncovered) will often need to be “searched” for individual names for research purposes. The alternate “conventional” spelling is thus rendered in [block parentheses] following the document’s original spelling so that a consistent computer search can be made using only the single modern conventional spelling of the grantee’s name.
As always, we will welcome suggestions for improving the format, pointing out of errors and omissions, and will especially welcome being sent the “long form” text for those entries.