Assignee: A person to whom a claim, right, property. task, etc. is transferred. (Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition 1970) Specifically as used in the land granting process, the right to the certificate, warrant, entry or survey could be assigned to another person usually for consideration; the assignment(s) is often written on the back of certificate or warrant. Assignment of a fraction of the certificate's or warrant's rights to land was allowed and often the case. Additional or successive assignments were written on the back of the warrant until there was no more space for another assignment; additional assignments are then written on the front of the warrant. An assignee could reassign his rights. Also, notes of assignments were sent to the surveyor holding the warrant. The warrant, the original survey and any papers. i.e., probate, the surveyor had in his possession to allow him to survey the entry for the person for which the tract was surveyed was to be sent to the VA Land Office where the Grant was written after which only the grant was returned to the county. For grants beginning in 1779 these papers (not the Grant - as it was recorded in the Patent or Grant Books which can be accessed online at Library of Virginia, then returned to the Grantee) are often found in the VA Land Office manuscript collection, "Plats and Certificates", with the last survey allowed on the warrant. It is expected that the warrant accompanied the last survey to the VA Land Office. When there were several grants based on a warrant, determining the last grantee is the problem. I have seen notations with a survey that the warrant had been returned with another named person's survey. These documents can be seen at the Library of Virginia for grants beginning in 1779 are often found in the VA Land Office collection "Plats and Certificates". They are filed by the Grant year and Grantee alpha. There is no collection index. They are not microfilmed. The value of consulting this file is that the assigner wrote & signed the assignment statement or signed the statement written by another person. As usual, if he signed with an (x) signatures of witnesses are expected. After the survey was sent to the Land Office, I have seen the contract to transfer recorded in the court minutes of the county the land was surveyed. You can sometimes find other grants on a warrant when the survey has an identified waterway, road way or other notations by entering this in the Keyword search window instead of Name. Remember; the land did not have to have been entered on the same location as any other entry, survey or grant based on any one warrant. The warrant only gave rights to land anywhere VA was granting land based on the type warrant VA issued. The warrant # is almost always recited in the grant as this was the authority for granting the survey; it is not a searchable keyword. To read about the VA Land Office land grants & records visit < www.lva.lib.va.us > and look for & Download "Research Notes Number 20 'The Virginia Land Office' " Phyllis Vannoy Spiker