I can't identify who this William was, but my guess about some of your other questions is that this land is on the South Branch upsteam from Petersburg, Grant County. The reason for my theory is that you found this appraisal in the Augusta County records. Fairfax had title to his land at this time, having settled a dispute with the colony some years before. Fairfax's land at this time was wholly in Frederick County. The fact that you found this in Augusta County tells me that the grant was in the upper reaches of the South Branch, in Augusta rather than Frederick. Terry Gruber Sara Patton wrote: > Augusta Co records in 1749 show an order for a valuation or appraisal of a > William Parke's estate on the South Branch of the Potomac including > "improvements on 2464 acres belonging to Wm Parks, on Southern Border > Potomac, 17 Nov 1749..." This is a huge amount of land. Who is this > William Parks--was he granted the land prior to Fairfax's claim? > > Sara Patton