Maybe I am misunderstanding the discussion, but all (as far as I know, all of them) Northern Neck Land Grants (full images) are on-line at the below LVA site.  A message there says the files will not be available Nov 26-29.  I can't seem to get in today, but I go there frequently. <http://www.lva.lib.va.us/dlp/land>http://www.lva.lib.va.us/dlp/land/ JoLee At 04:05 AM 11/23/1999 , you wrote: >A remarkable work by Steve Knoblock. > >Having been accustomed to referring to Gertrude E. Gray's abstracts of >"Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants" I was looking forward to Steve's >searches.  However, when I searched for the names shown on page 1 of Gray's >abstracts of 1694-1742 patents not a single one was found in Steve's >database. > >Upon checking the background pages at Steve's site I found that the base >work on which Steve has drawn was selective : "Beginning at a white Oak. >Patents and Northern Neck Grants of Fairfax County, Virginia. by Beth >Mitchell is a comprehensive survey of land grants and patents made in the >Northern Neck of Virginia in what are now Fairfax and Arlington counties." > >It appears that Dick Eastman somehow translated Steve's selective work to >be a work covering all of the Northern Neck Land Grants. So, if your >Northern Neck ancestor is not found in Steve's database it means only that >your ancestor did not receive a grant for land that is now in either >Fairfax or Arlington Counties. > >Barry > >At 07:36 AM 11/22/99 -0800, you wrote: >>If you have kin in Virginia's Northern Neck, check here.  This item came >>from Dick Eastman's current column. >> >>Carmen Finley >> >>----------------------------------------- >> >> >> - Virginia Grants Online Database >> >>Steve Knoblock has obviously been toiling on a labor of love. He >>has created an online database listing land grant records as >>originally abstracted in Northern Neck Grant Books. The database >>is available free of charge on the Web. >> >>The original hand-written Northern Neck Grant Books fill 37 >>volumes. These records were abstracted some years ago and >>published by the Fairfax County government in a single volume >>called "Beginning at a white Oak. Patents and Northern Neck Grants >>of Fairfax County, Virginia." The book is now out of print, and >>there are no plans to republish it. Steve Knoblock has been >>manually entering each abstract into a spreadsheet on his >>computer; the index fields from this spreadsheet are now available >>on Steve's Web site. The database is searchable by name, surname, >>grant date, grant book and issuer. >> >>I decided to try this for myself. I first searched for my own >>surname but didn't find any listings. I guess the family never >>made it to that part of Virginia. I then tried some more common >>surnames and found lots of results. Here is one such listing: >> >>     Clark, Richard, . 94 11 Sep 1779 I:366, {Proprietary} >> >>With this information I can look at the original grant books, >>either in person or on a rented microfilm copy. I should be able >>to quickly find the full record as recorded by the clerks in 1779. >>The data usually found in the books would include the name, >>surname, tract size, date of grant, grant book, grant issuer and >>the surveyor's description. >> >>The home site for the search is at: >><http://whiteoak.home.att.net/index.html>http://whiteoak.home.att.net/ind ex.html. Grant Books and the >>search are available at: >><http://whiteoak.home.att.net/landgrant/nn_grant_books.html>http://whiteo ak.home.att.net/landgrant/nn_grant_books.html while >>direct access to the database is at: >><http://www.city-gallery.com/whiteoak/landgrant.cgi>http://www.city-galle ry.com/whiteoak/landgrant.cgi >> >> >> >> >