Colonial Maryland was a “proprietary” colony, meaning the land of the colony itself was granted to a Lord Proprietor, who then “sold” the rights to land to others. This land was not truly owned by others, however, but was actually held in “common socage,” meaning that it was still subject to rent and other fines paid to the Lord Proprietor. The current “fee simple” system was established in 1787, a system that allows for land and property taxes.
The first settlers, prior to 1680, could be granted a certain number of acres per person transported into Maryland, called “headrights.” The guidelines for these headright grants were outlined in several acts known as “Conditions of Plantation.” The process began with an individual proving his rights to land, as in the excerpt below, for which he would be granted a Warrant of a certain number of acres. The land was then laid out in a Survey. Finally, the land would be confirmed to the recipient, and a Patent issued, granting the land to the patentee. The headright system was abolished in 1680.
3d February 1671
...
Came Thomas Boyckin of Bristoll mariner and proved his Right to Two hundred and fifty acres of Land for Importing Edward Harris, Thomas Hebbs, Henry Macey, Mathias Deinge and Ann Davis into this province to Inhabite, proved before me Feb 3d 1671.[1]
Transfers of land were handled by the Land Office, the Provincial Court, or the several county Courts.
Maryland exists to this day as a “state land” state, meaning that the land tracts are laid out by “metes and bounds,” as opposed to “federal land” states, where tracts are laid out on a grid. Metes and bounds land descriptions consist of a series of directions and distances, such as in the following example, from a land survey in 1661:
... Laid out more to him another parcell of Land beginning at a marked Oak of the North West and by North Line from the Creek, One hundred perches, bounding on the North by a Line drawn West South West for length Three hundred and twenty perches, to a marked Oak, on the West by a Line drawn East South East from the said Oak fifty perches, to a marked Oak, on the South by a Line drawn East North East from the said Oak into the said Creek, on the East with the said Creek, Containing and now laid out for Two hundred and Eighty Acres more or less.[2]
The above survey, where the bounds of the land tract were provided individually as the four sides of a square (“bounding on the North... on the West... on the South... on the East....”), was common in the early colonial period. In the later colonial period, the common form for surveys would start at a “Beginning” point, give the direction and distance to the next point, then to the next, and so forth, until it returned to the Beginning point. The points in these surveyed land tracts were generally marked by trees, as in the above example’s “marked Oaks.”
A unique characteristic of Maryland land tracts is that each tract surveyed is given a name. Deeds, tax records, and wills will refer to land tracts by name, but do not always provide the complete land description. Later resurveys might alter the bounds of a land tract, and often give the tract a new name, but there are some land tracts that are still officially known by names provided during the colonial period!
Future columns will discuss later-period land records in Maryland, and how to plat land tracts using "metes and bounds" descriptions.
The following book detailing the colonial land policies and records is highly recommended, and is available to read free online at the Maryland State Archives’ Archives of Maryland website:
Hartsook, Elisabeth, and Gust Skordas. Land Office and Prerogative Court Records of Colonial Maryland. Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission of the State of Maryland, 1946. Reprinted Baltimore: Clearfield/Genealogical Pubg., 1996. Also available online from the Maryland State Archives: http://aomol.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000415/html/index.html
[1] Land Office (Patent Record) Thomas Boyckin land rights, 3 Feb 1671/2, Liber 16, ff. 409-410, MSA SM2-19, microfilm no. SR 7357; Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.
[2] Land Office (Patent Record) George Waker, survey for land, 23 Feb 1661/2, Liber 5, fol. 100, MSA SM2-8, microfilm no. SR 7347; Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.
Comments
Loved your article. Very good description of the process. Thank you. I shared a link to it today on a 'Follow Friday' post on my blog, Tangled Trees. Thank you, Theresa (twitter: Mzstery)
I am a 76 yr old direct decendant of a James Mullikin who patented lane in Maryland after 1650 - was researched by mother Juanita Mullikin Johnson, & I want to write about what she found - organize the info. so my famioy will have it. James Mullikin's family built Mullikin's Delight. So, I'm trying to understand land patents, so I can start at the beginning. It's a long story. Thank you, Benita - now in Leesburg, FL
I actually did significant research on the Mullikin family a few years ago, (though I focused more on a descendant who moved to Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee.)
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