Jerry, it's really a mixed bag. The index to the deeds was NOT destroyed and the Burnt Deed Books were reconstructed from remnants, the index, later deeds of conveyance & original deeds in the possession of the owners. Quite a number have most of the metes and bounds. (I've been all over those books & have had luck with my ancestors . . . . with a few exceptions.) If you have the precise citations, you might want to get a copy directly from the courthouse. It's only 50 cents a page and the copies will be much better than microfilm. Make sure you provide all the info (sellers, purchasers, dates, etc) just in case the reference is off. Other than that, I use LVA's microfilm . . . . . starting with the index . . . . then to the books themselves. There also may be an original survey for the Bryans??? And also something in the Land Entry Books???? As you probably know, in 1762 the land would have been located in Augusta County and there may be an existing survey/land entry there. Best, Jan -----Original Message----- From: varockin-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:varockin-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Bryan Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 9:51 PM To: varockin@rootsweb.com Subject: [VAROCKIN] Early Rockingham Deeds I've seen lots of summaries from early Rockingham County deeds. What I have not seen is the actual deeds with metes and bounds descriptions of the land. Do actual deeds still exist, for example for the 1700's? If so, where would I look? Would I need to come to Rockingham County. Or is there a way to access the deeds on microfilm somewhere? Here's an example: 1791 - Rockingham County Deed Book #00, pp 89, 381-383 - Gasper Moyers purchased 150 acres on the waters of Linville Creek from Thomas Bryan and Peter Bryan for 100 pounds, and the land was mortgaged to John Kring Sr. Micheal Trout co-signed for the mortgage, and the contracted stated that if payments were not met he could sell the property through the Winchester Gazette. Adjoining property owners were John Bryan, William Bryan, and Jacob Lincoln. Thomas Bryan and Peter Bryan were father and son, respectively my gggggg grandfather and ggggg grandfather. Thomas had purchased 300 acres in Feb 1762. I'm pretty sure that the 150 acres that were sold in 1791 were more or less the east half of the 300 acres. But to know this for sure, I need to see the metes and bounds description from both deeds. Thanks, Jerry Bryan ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to VAROCKIN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message