Can anyone explain to me what happened here? Robert Bowen held land on the south side of the Meherrin River on the west side of Eagles Nest Creek (present NE Mecklenburg east of Smith Creek) prior to 1755 when the William Dobyns grant referred to "Bowing's" line. There was no grant for this land until 1768 when Drury Bowen and Robert Bowen were granted a patent with the exact same line described in the Dobyns patent. I am guessing they might have been sons of the earlier Robert Bowen, but perhaps both Robert Bowens were the same. In 1753 Robert Bowen mortgaged another piece of land (150 acres) farther up Eagles Nest Creek to Clement Read. The deed stated the land adjoined Edward Henry. There was no grant for that piece of Bowen land either. There was no grant for the Edward Henry land although it was mentioned several times in other patents. There was also mention in the early patents of Margaret Bagwell's land in the same area - but no patent for it. The same for William Wright's land. All of these folks seem to have held their land by the early 1750's - they were some of the earliest landholders on the south side of the river in what is now Mecklenburg Co. I've searched all the patents for this area thinking that maybe the land was granted to someone else and inherited or sold, but I can find no sign of that at all for any of them. In each case, they seem to have been the original owners of the property. What happened here? Did these people believe they held a patent and then find out later they didn't? That would seem to be the case with the Robert Bowen land since Robert and Drury Bowen were granted a patent for it years later in 1768. I know it often took years for patents to be granted, but more than 15 years? And no patent was ever granted for the 150 acres that was sold. Did these people apply for patents and then the paperwork was lost? Were patents granted but never properly recorded? Were some of the grant books lost? I understand that when Brunswick Co was formed, some of the early records (1720-1732) that were recorded in the Prince George Co books until the new county of Brunswick was organized were not copied into the Brunswick Co books as they should have been. There was an order in 1735 that 52 deeds be recorded, but apparently they never were. A Benjamin Boing and a few others that can be associated with this area were in the list, but not any of the names I was looking for. Could this be the explanation? But still, shouldn't there be grants for this land to somebody else? Weren't the grants recorded separately in the grant books?

Frances, This may be a silly question, but have you checked Lunenburg records? You mention Brunswick Co below, but according to the map book that I have Mecklenburg Co was formed from Lunenburg Co in 1765, both being to the west of Brunswick. As an aside, I found deed abstracts while looking for my Sutherlin/Southerland folks in Amelia Co, a little to the north that have several mentions of Robert and Drury Bolling with one having a notation of a patent to Robert Bolling in 1738. Different family? Jeff Smith Frances Cullom Harper wrote: > > Can anyone explain to me what happened here? > > Robert Bowen held land on the south side of the Meherrin River on the west > side of Eagles Nest Creek (present NE Mecklenburg east of Smith Creek) prior > to 1755 when the William Dobyns grant referred to "Bowing's" line. There was > no grant for this land until 1768 when Drury Bowen and Robert Bowen were > granted a patent with the exact same line described in the Dobyns patent. I > am guessing they might have been sons of the earlier Robert Bowen, but > perhaps both Robert Bowens were the same. In 1753 Robert Bowen mortgaged > another piece of land (150 acres) farther up Eagles Nest Creek to Clement > Read. The deed stated the land adjoined Edward Henry. There was no grant for > that piece of Bowen land either. There was no grant for the Edward Henry > land although it was mentioned several times in other patents. There was > also mention in the early patents of Margaret Bagwell's land in the same > area - but no patent for it. The same for William Wright's land. All of > these folks seem to have held their land by the early 1750's - they were > some of the earliest landholders on the south side of the river in what is > now Mecklenburg Co. I've searched all the patents for this area thinking > that maybe the land was granted to someone else and inherited or sold, but I > can find no sign of that at all for any of them. In each case, they seem to > have been the original owners of the property. > > What happened here? Did these people believe they held a patent and then > find out later they didn't? That would seem to be the case with the Robert > Bowen land since Robert and Drury Bowen were granted a patent for it years > later in 1768. I know it often took years for patents to be granted, but > more than 15 years? And no patent was ever granted for the 150 acres that > was sold. Did these people apply for patents and then the paperwork was > lost? Were patents granted but never properly recorded? Were some of the > grant books lost? > > I understand that when Brunswick Co was formed, some of the early records > (1720-1732) that were recorded in the Prince George Co books until the new > county of Brunswick was organized were not copied into the Brunswick Co > books as they should have been. There was an order in 1735 that 52 deeds be > recorded, but apparently they never were. A Benjamin Boing and a few others > that can be associated with this area were in the list, but not any of the > names I was looking for. > > Could this be the explanation? But still, shouldn't there be grants for this > land to somebody else? Weren't the grants recorded separately in the grant > books? > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > VAGenWeb > http://www.rootsweb.com/~vagenweb > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com