Research

Scope and Content Note

The Legislature referred most petitions relating to land transactions to the surveyor general for comment. The surveyor general prepared these reports in response. The reports concern: value of land; land claims and title disputes; errors in previous surveys and results of new surveys; requests for grants of unappropriated state land; surveys and sales of state land; grants of land to persons whose grants in the military tract could not be cultivated or contained fewer acres than they were supposed to; and requests for title to unappropriated lands which the petitioner(s) had settled and improved.

There are also supporting records interfiled with the reports, including: survey maps; minutes and resolutions of the Commissioners of the Land Office regarding orders to or receipt of reports from the surveyor general; original petitions on which the surveyor general reported; and affidavits supporting petitions.

Transcripts of a few surveyor general's reports, including one from this series (p. 295 of "Assembly Papers" volume 38), are in series A0042, Transcripts of Reports Regarding Claims for Revolutionary War Service (see especially p. 877ff).