1. Act reads: “the former and present government, previous to the establishment of the commonwealth’s land office”; the words “covering the greater part of the Country on the Western Waters” are not in the Act.

2. Act reads: “upon which legal and just claimers shall be entitled to sue out grants.”

3. Act reads: “proceed.”

4. Act, following the enacting clause, reads: “That all surveys of waste and unappropriated land made upon any of the western waters before the first day of January, in the year 1778, and upon any of the eastern waters at any time before the end of this present session of assembly, by any county surveyor commissioned by the masters of William and Mary college, acting in conformity to the laws and rules of government then in force, and founded‥‥”

5. Act adds: “as far as relates to indented servants, and other persons not being convicts.”

6. Act reads: “… paid the receiver general duly authenticated upon entries on the western waters, regularly made before the 26th day of October, in the year 1763, or on the eastern waters at any time before the end of this present session of assembly, with the surveyor‥‥”

7. Act reads “the” instead of “any.”

8. Act reads: “or entry in the council books, and made during the time in which it shall appear either from the original or any subsequent order, entry, or proceedings in the council books, that such order or entry remained in force the terms of which have been complied with, or the time for performing the same unexpired, or upon any warrant‥‥”

9. The famous Proclamation of 1763 is in Hening, description begins William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia description ends vii, 663.

10. Act includes at this point the proviso that all officers or soldiers, or their heirs or assigns, claiming under Governor Dinwiddie’s proclamation of 1754 offering a bounty in lands to the officers and soldiers of the first Virginia regiment, if they had returned to the secretary’s office surveys “made by virtue of a special commission of the president and masters of William and Mary college,” could have their claims validated by taking out warrants on their proclamation rights, resurveying the lands, and then proceeding according to the Land Office regulations.

11. Act reads: “… mentioned, against which no caveat shall have been legally entered.”

12. Act adds: “or authentick copy thereof.”

13. Instead of “Patent or Patents” the Act reads: “grant or grants for the same in manner and form herein after directed.”

14. The words “and Rights” are interlined in George Mason’s hand.

15. Act reads: “twelve months.”

16. Act adds at this point: “otherwise they shall be, and are hereby declared forfeited and void.”

17. Act omits the clause: “and where two or more … shall have the preference.”

18. Act adds: “as before limited.”

19. Act adds: “duly authenticated”; one and one half lines erased in MS following this point.

20. Act reads: “admitted to warrants, entries, and grants for the same.”

21. One and a half lines erased in MS following this point.

22. Act reads: “the like space of twelve months.”

23. Four lines have been erased in MS at this point. In the Act the following additional provisions were inserted: “and not afterwards. All certificates of importation rights proved before any court of record according to the ancient custom, and before the end of this present session of assembly, are hereby declared good and valid: And all other claims for importation rights not so proved, shall be null and void; and where any person before the end of this present session of assembly, hath made a regular entry according to act of assembly, with the county surveyor for any tract of land not exceeding four hundred acres, upon any of the eastern waters, which hath not been surveyed or forfeited, according to the laws and rules of government in force at the time of making such entry, the surveyor of the county where such land lies, shall after advertising legal notice thereof, proceed to survey the same accordingly, and shall deliver to the proprietor a plat and certificate of survey thereof within three months; and if such person shall fail to attend at the time and place so appointed for making such survey, with chain carriers and a person to mark the lines, or shall fail to deliver such plat and certificate into the land office, according to the rules and regulations of the same, together with the auditors certificate of the treasurers receipt for the composition money herein after mentioned, and pay the office fees, he or she shall forfeit his or her right and title; but upon performance of these requisitions, shall be entitled to a grant for such tract of land as in other cases.”

24. The words “upon the Western Waters” are not in the Act.

25. The Act has the following additional terms at this point: “and except also a certain order of council for a tract of sunken grounds, commonly called the Dismal Swamp, in the south eastern part of this commonwealth, contiguous to the North Carolina line, which said order of council with the proceedings thereon and the claim derived from it, shall hereafter be laid before the general assembly for their further order therein.”

26. The date is omitted in the Act.

27. Act adds: “as before mentioned.”

28. Act reads: “by an inhabitant of Virginia or in some regiment or corps actually raised in the same.”

29. The Act adds: “and producing a certificate thereof to the register of the land office within the said time of twelve months, shall be‥‥”

30. Act reads: “warrant, entry, and grant.”

31. Act adds the following at this point: “but nothing herein contained shall be construed or extend to give any person a title to land for service performed in any company or detachment of militia.”

32. Act omits the words “and guilty … their part.”

33. Act reads: “before the first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight.”

34. Act adds: “or their families.”

35. Act adds: “on the said western waters.”

36. Act reads: “for every family so settled, four hundred acres of land, or such smaller quantity as the party chooses, to include such settlement.” In addition, the Act provided that where any settler had had a survey made under any order of the colonial government, since 26 Oct. 1763, for less than 400 acres, he could take up as much additional unappropriated land as, with the amount surveyed, would amount to 400 acres.

37. The terms of the Act differ concerning these settlements “in Villages or Townships”: “And whereas several families for their greater safety have settled themselves in villages or townships, under some agreement between the inhabitants of laying off the same into town lots, to be divided among them, and have, from present necessity, cultivated a piece of ground adjoining thereto in common: Be it enacted, That six hundred and forty acres of land whereon such villages and towns are situate, and to which no other person hath a previous legal claim, shall not be entered for or surveyed, but shall be reserved for the use and benefit of the said inhabitants until a true representation of their case can be made to the general assembly, that right and justice may be done therein; and in the mean time there shall be allowed to every such family, in consideration of their settlement, the like quantity of land as is herein allowed to other settlers adjacent, or convenient to their respective village or town, and to which no other person hath, by this act, the right of preemption, for which said quantities to be adjusted, ascertained, and certified by the commissioners to be appointed by virtue of this act, in manner herein after directed.”

38. The words “Warrants, and Entries with the” are in the hand of George Mason; the Act reads “to entries with.”

39. Act adds: “wherein the land lies, upon producing to him certificates of their rights from the said commissioners of the county, duly attested, within twelve months next after the end of this present session of assembly, and not afterwards; which certificate the said surveyor shall record in his books, and then return them to the parties, and shall proceed to survey the lands so entered, according to law.”

40. Act adds: “to the land office.”

41. Act adds: “together with the certificates from the said commissioners of the rights, by settlement upon which the entries were founded.”

42. The words “or Assigns” are deleted in MS but the Act reads: “heirs or assigns, in manner before directed.”

43. TJ deleted the first and last seven words of the following in MS: “be entitled to the Preemption, at the State price to other purchasers,” and interlined the words “on payment of the … other purchasers.”

44. At this point the Act includes the following: “And to prevent doubts concerning settlements, It is hereby declared, That no family shall be entitled to the allowance granted to settlers by this act, unless they have made a crop of corn in that country, or resided there at least one year since the time of their settlement.”

45. The words “have made regular entries … and those who” are written in the margin of MS in hand of George Mason and the words “on the said western waters” within this marginal clause are interlined in the hand of TJ. The Act reads: “All persons who, since the said first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight, have actually settled on any waste or unappropriated lands on the said western waters, to which no other person hath a just or legal right or claim, shall be entitled to the preemption of any quantity of land, not exceeding four hundred acres, to include such settlement at the state price to other purchasers. And all those who, before the said first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight have” (italics supplied by the editor).

46. Act adds: “or chosen.”

47. Act reads: “and built any house or hut or made other improvements thereon.”

48. Act reads: “one thousand.”

49. Act adds: “but no person shall have the right of preemption for more than one such improvement.”

50. The words “and prove their Claim to” are interlined in the hand of George Mason; Act reads “and prove their right to.”

51. The corresponding passage in the Act differs from this: “before the commissioners for the county, to be appointed by virtue of this act within eight months, pay the consideration money, produce the auditor’s certificate for the treasurer’s receipt for the same, take out their warrants from the register of the land office within ten months, and enter the same with the surveyor of the county, within twelve months next‥‥” The Act also has the following section not in MS: “All locations made by officers and soldiers upon the lands of actual settlers, shall be void, but the said officers, soldiers, or their assignees, may obtain warrants on producing the commissioners certificate of their several rights, and locate their claims on other waste and unappropriated lands. To prevent the locations of those claiming under warrants for preemption, from interfering with such as claim under certificates for settlements, and to give due preference to the latter, so far as respects their rights to tracts of land not exceeding four hundred acres; the register of the land office shall particularly distinguish all preemption warrants by him issued, and no county surveyor shall admit any such warrant to be entered or located in his books, before the expiration of ten months as aforesaid. And where any such warrant shall not be entered and located with the county surveyor, within the before mentioned space of twelve months, the right of preemption shall be forfeited, and the lands therein mentioned may be entered for by any other person holding another land warrant; but such preemption warrant may, nevertheless, be located upon any other waste or unappropriated lands, or upon the same lands where they have not in the mean time been entered for by some other.”

52. Preceding five words are interlined in TJ’s hand; they are not in the Act.

53. Act reads: “grants.”

54. Preceding seven words are in hand of George Mason, written over an erasure.

55. Act reads: “… books, for which rights have not formerly been lodged in the secretary’s office, and also those suing out grants for tracts of lands upon the western waters‥‥”

56. Preceding twelve words are in Mason’s hand.

57. Act adds: “or under former entries with the county surveyor, for lands upon the eastern waters.”

58. Act adds: “before the grant issues.”

59. The following additional section is in the Act at this point: “And to all such persons, their heirs or assigns, who having title to land under the former government, had not only surveyed the same, but had lodged their certificates of survey, together with their rights, in the secretary’s office; and although no caveat hath been entered, have not obtained patents, grants shall issue in consideration thereof, upon the payment of the office fees only.”

60. Act reads: “whereas it hath been represented to the general assembly.”

61. Act reads: “settled without specifick agreement, but yet under‥‥”

62. The clause “and are now refused … For Remedy whereof” is not in the Act.

63. Act reads: “… upon any unpatented lands, surveyed as before mentioned‥‥”

64. Act reads: “respective companies for their own use‥‥”

65. Act adds: “when they were settled.”

66. Act adds the following provisos at this point: “provided they compromise their claims with the said companies, or lay them before the commissioners for their respective counties, to be appointed by virtue of this act, and have the same tried and determined by them, in manner herein after directed: And provided also, that where any such survey contains more than four hundred acres, no one settler shall be entitled to a greater quantity than three hundred acres, unless he takes the whole survey, to include his settlement, and leave the remainder in one entire and convenient piece where the same is practicable.”

67. From this point (the concluding five pages) the MS is entirely in the hand of George Mason.

68. Act adds: “as well as of the settlers on the lands surveyed for sundry companies by orders of council as aforesaid.”

69. Instead of commissioners in each county, the Act provides a district system, as follows: “That the counties on the western waters shall be allotted into districts, to wit: The counties of Monongalia; Yohogania, and Ohio, into one district; the counties of Augusta, Botetourt, and Greenbrier, into one district; the counties of Washington and Montgomery, into one other district; and the county of Kentucky, shall be another district; for each of which districts, the governour, with the advice of the council, shall appoint four commissioners under the seal of the commonwealth, not being inhabitants of such district (any three of whom may act) to continue in office eight months from the end of this present session of assembly, for the purpose of collecting, adjusting, and determining such claims, and four months thereafter for the purpose of adjusting the claims of settlers on lands surveyed for the aforesaid companies.”

70. The preceding eight words are not in the Act; the oath of office in the Act is in the first person, and the word “district” is substituted for “county.”

71. Act adds: “and also of such settlers as claim any lands surveyed by order of council, for sundry companies.”

72. Act reads: “and present government, previous to the establishment of the commonwealth’s land office.”

73. Act reads: “… of Settlements to lands, to which no person hath any other legal title, and the rights‥‥”

74. Act reads: “… respective districts, as also the rights of all persons claiming any unpatented lands, surveyed by order of council for sundry companies, by having settled thereon under the faith of the terms of sale publickly offered by such companies or their agents.” The words “either for Entries … in this Act” are not in the Act.

75. Act adds: “forts.”

76. Act adds: “and other publick places in their district.”

77. Act adds: “and award costs.”

78. The Act adds at this point a clause giving commissioners authority to pay, out of fees received for certificates, £3 to the county surveyor and £2 to the county sheriff for each day’s attendance.

79. This paragraph is written over an erasure of six and a half lines; concerning the second category of disputes, the Act substitutes the following: “In all disputes for the right of preemptions for improvements made on the land, the persons, their heirs or assigns respectively, who made the first improvement, and the persons to whom any right of preemption on account of settlement or improvements shall be adjudged, shall fix the quantity at their own option at the time of the judgment, so as not to exceed the number of acres respectively allowed by this act, or to interfere with the just rights of others.”

80. Act adds: “and also the names of all such persons to whom titles shall be adjudged for lands within the surveys made by order of council for any company with the quantity of acres adjudged, and in what survey; and if the same is only part of such survey, in what manner it shall be located therein, the name or style of the company, and the price to be paid them, with the time from which the same is to bear interest.”

81. Act adds: “or a title be made.”

82. Act adds: “where he resides, or wherein he may be found.”

83. Act adds: “except as herein after excepted.”

84. Act reads: “… the number of acres, and the time of settlement, and describing‥‥”

85. Act adds: “with a memorandum for the information of the party in each certificate of the last day on which the lands therein respectively mentioned can be entered with the county surveyor.”

86. Act reads: “every hundred acres of land contained within the said certificates.”

87. Act reads: “ten shillings to the clerk for each certificate so granted.”

88. Act adds: “produced within the times herein before respectively limited to the surveyor of the county, or to the register of the land office, with the auditor’s certificate of the treasurer’s receipt for the payment due on the preemption, as the nature of the case may require.”

89. Act reads: “And to prevent frauds or mistakes, the said commissioners immediately upon having completed the business in their district, shall transmit.”

90. The remainder of this paragraph is not included in the Act. The Act, however, has the following not in MS: “They shall in like manner, and upon payment of the same fees, deliver to every person to whom they shall adjudge, a title to any unpatented land, surveyed for any company by order of council, a certificate mentioning the number of acres to which they have adjudged the title, what particular survey the same is in, and for what company made, the price to be paid such company, and the date from which the same is to bear interest, and where there is a greater quantity of land contained in the survey, describe as near as may be, the manner the land to which they have adjudged title, shall be laid off and bounded; and shall also immediately upon having completed the business in their district, transmit to the clerk of the general court, under their hands, and attested by their clerk, a list or schedule in alphabetical order, containing exact copies of all such certificates by them granted, to remain in the said clerk’s office for the information of the said companies, and as evidence and proof of the respective titles.

“Provided nevertheless, That if the parties, their heirs or assigns, to whom such titles shall have been adjudged, shall not within six months at farthest, from the time of their respective judgments in their favour, pay or tender to the company to whom the same is due, or their agent, the price and interest so fixed by the said commissioners, the title of every person so failing, shall be forfeited, and shall be from thence forward, to all intents and purposes, null and void; any thing herein to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.”

91. Act reads: “eight pounds each.”

92. Act adds: “upon oath” and also states the substance of this clause differently.

93. Act adds: “and the witnesses the same allowance for their attendance.”

94. Act adds: “and the clerk shall have the same power of issuing executions as the clerks of the county courts.”

95. The following paragraphs, not in the MS, are in the Act: “But as by this summary mode of proceeding, some persons at a great distance may not have timely notice, and may be unable to appear in support of their claims, for remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That no grant shall issue upon any of the claims determined by the said commissioners, until the first day of December, 1780, and in the mean time, any such person injured by their determination, his or her heirs or assigns, may enter a caveat against a grant thereupon, until the matter shall be heard before the general court, and may petition the said general court to have his or her claim considered; and upon its being proved to the court that he or she laboured under such a disability at the time of the meeting of the commissioners thereupon, the court shall grant him or her a hearing in a summary way, and if it shall appear upon trial, that the petitioners claim is just, such court may reverse the former determination, and order a grant to issue for such land or any part thereof, on the terms herein before mentioned, to the person to whom they shall adjudge the same.

“And be it farther enacted, That all claims for lands upon surveys under any order of council or entry in the council books, shall by the respective claimers be laid before the court of appeals; which shall meet for that purpose on the sixteenth day of December next, and shall adjourn from day to day until the business be finished; or if it be proved to the court that any such claimer is unable to attend and prosecute his claim, or for other just cause to them shewn, they may order such claim to be tried before them on some future day. All such claims shall be heard and determined in a summary way, without pleadings in writing, upon such evidence as in the opinion of the court, the nature of the case may require; and no such claim shall be valid, but such only as shall be so heard and established by the said court of appeals, and on their certificate that any such claim hath been by them established, the register is hereby required to issue a warrant or grant thereupon, according to the nature of the case, and the rules and regulations of the land office; and the attorney general is hereby required to attend the said court on behalf of the commonwealth.

“Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall extend to officers, soldiers, or their assignees, claiming lands for military service. The register of the land office shall regularly record all land warrants issued by virtue of this act; they may be executed in one or more surveys, and may be exchanged or divided so as best to suit the purposes of the party, and shall remain in force until lands shall have been actually obtained for them, in the same manner with the warrants to be issued by virtue of the before recited act for establishing a land office.”

96. Act reads: “a grant to any person.”

97. Act adds: “as the consideration.”

98. Act reads: “nine”; the 1777 date in MS proves that this MS, and therefore that of the Bill for Establishing a Land Office, were written at least as early as the Oct. 1777 session, perhaps being drawn before the session was convened.

99. The title in the Act is the same as that given above in the descriptive note.

100. Act adds: “the ancient composition money, or the new.”

101. Act reads: “shall be properly distinguished, and in every other respect the grant shall be drawn and pass in the form and manner prescribed by law for the future grants of lands from the commonwealth.”

102. Act reads: “… Caveats, with the papers relating thereto.”

103. Act reads: “proceeded on and tried in the manner directed‥‥”

104. The following passage, not in MS, is included in the Act: “but the same shall be determined according to the laws in force at the time they were entered; and upon the determination of any such caveat, a grant shall issue in the name of the person to whom such land shall be adjudged, his or her heirs or assigns, upon producing to the register of the land office, within three months at farthest from the time of such judgment, an authentick copy thereof, together with the auditor’s certificate of the treasurer’s receipt for the antient composition money due thereon, at the rate of exchange herein before mentioned; but where the person recovering had before paid rights into the secretary’s office, a grant shall issue in consideration thereof upon payment of the office fees only.”