Skip to main content
Main Content

In the Royal Charter establishing William & Mary, Article XVI appoints the college to serve as the Surveyor-General of the Colony of Virginia and was given the right to examine and license surveyors, collect the license fees and fees for each survey performed. Any who wished a surveyor's license in the Colony or early State of Virginia had to obtain a license in order to conduct surveys in their assigned county. United States Presidents George Washington and alumnus Thomas Jefferson received licenses to survey in Virginia from William & Mary. After the American Revolution, the rate at which William & Mary granted surveying licenses began to decline drastically and ceased entirely by around 1810 (Surveying, University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.)

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

List of Surveyors

The following is a list of surveyors arranged alphabetically by last name, including the year they received their license, and the counties in which they were allowed to survey. Surveyors for companies and counties that would later become states, such as areas in Kentucky and Ohio, are also included. This list was compiled from a variety of sources and cannot be considered exhaustive, and changes will be made as more information becomes available. Many of the William & Mary College records for this era were burned, these records are collected from various sources including extant surveyor's licenses, statements of fees collected from the college for survey's performed, surveys and letters. From Surveying--Lists of Surveyors, University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.

Name

Year

County

Allen, Arthur

1704

Isle of Wight, Surry

Anderson, Richard C.

1784

Henrico

Baker, Henry

1716

Nansemond

Baker, Richard

1754

Isle of Wight

Ball, Joseph

1751

Lancaster; Northumberland

Ball, William

1718

Lancaster and Southampton; Northumberland

Barrow, Henry

1795

Southampton

Bland, William

1764

Prince George

Bolling, Robert

1702

Charles City

Brooke, Robert

1745

Caroline, Essex

Buckner, William

1709

(Surveyor General)

Cabell, William

1746, 1761, 1783

Albermarle, Amherst, Amherst

Carrington, George

1734, 1749

Goochland, Cumberland

Cary, Miles

1699

(Surveyor General)

Claiborne, Nathaniel

1729

Spottsylvania

Clark, George Rogers

1784

(Virginia State Line)

Cloyd, Gordon

circa 1800

Montgomery

Cocke, Hartwell

1749

Surry

Cooke, Thomas

1707

Gloucester; Middlesex

Cooper, George

1707

Northumberland

Crawford, William

1773

(Ohio Company)

Currie, George

1749

Prince George

Donelson, John

1767

Pittsylvania

Eastham, James

circa 1791

Halifax

Edmunds, John

1754

Sussex

Evans, Thomas

circa 1785

Accomack

Ewell, Bertrand

1751

Prince William

Fontaine, Peter, Jr.

1748, 1748, 1752

Charles City, Lunenburg, Halifax

Fry, Robert

1753

Nansemond

Garland, Griffin

circa 1772

Richmond

Garland, Samuel

1772

Lunenburg

Garland, William

1746

Richmond

Gray, William

1749

Southampton

Greenway, James

1770

Dinwiddie

Gregg, THomas

1707

Stafford

Hardyman, James

circa 1767

Charles City

Harmanson, John

1755

Northampton

Harris, Tyree

1753

Louisa

Hawkins, Jonathan

1748

Hanover

Herring, Alexander

1792

Rockingham

Higginbotham, James

1776, 1788

Amherst, Amherst

Hume, George

1723

Spottsylvania

Jackson, Christopher

1717

James City

Jefferson, Peter

1754, 1756

Albermarle, Goochland

Jefferson, Thomas

1773

Albermarle

Jennings, Daniel

circa 1749

Fairfax

Jones, Robert

1749

Southampton

Kemper, Charles

1800

Fauquier

Kenny, James

1752

King George

Lee, Henry

1750

Culpeper

LeNeve, Jonathan

1752, 1754

Amelia, Prince Edward

Lewis, Thomas

1744, circa 1775

Augusta and Rockingham, Botetourt

Loury, Jonathan

1743

Elizabeth City and Warwick

Markham, John

1756

Henrico

Martin, William Peters

circa 1767

King William

Mauzy, Jonathan

1744

Stafford

May, George

circa 1780

(Jefferson and Nelson, Kentucky)

May, William

circa 1785

(Jefferson, Kentucky)

Monroe, Spence

1743

Westmoreland

Mumford, Thomas

circa 1764

Amelia

Nedderton, Henry

1716

Westmoreland

Nimmo, Gershom

1756

Norfolk and Princess Anne

Parry, William

1749, 1750, 1751, 1753

Charles City and New Kent, James City and York, King and Queen, Middlesex

Pettit, William

circa 1772

Louisa

Poage, John

circa 1790

Augusta

Presson, Zorobabel

1716

Northampton

Preston, Robert

1774

Washington

Preston, William

1769

Botetourt

Price, Meredith

circa 1772

Goochland

Read, Clement

1754

Lunenburg

Scarburgh, Edmund

1756

Accomack

Sclater, John

1718

York

Sclater, Richard

1716

York

Smith, John

1708

Gloucester

Smith, John

1757

Goochland

Stewart, Andrew

1778

Norfolk

Stith, Buckner

1754

Bedford

Stith, Drury

1740

Brunswick

Stith, Richard

circa 1770

Bedford

Stone, Joshua

circa 1785

Pittsylvania

Syme, John

1717

New Kent

Taylor, Edmund

circa 1765

Mecklenburg

Taylor, James

circa 1785

Caroline

Taylor, Zachery

1751

Orange

Thomly, Aaron

circa 1775

King George

Thompson, James

1781

(Lincoln, Kentucky)

Thompson, William

1773

Fincastle

Thornton, William

1707

Richmond

Throckmorton, Jonathan

1753

Gloucester

Tomson, Thomas

1707

Westmoreland

Tunstall, Richard, Jr.

circa 1765

King and Queen

Tyler, Francis

1754

Hampshire

Vaiden, Joseph

circa 1786

Charles City

Waller, George, Jr.

circa 1795

Henry

Washington, George

1749

Culpeper

Watkins, Benjamin

1752

Prince George

Watkins, William

1752

Dinwiddie

Weeks, Benjamin

1755

Westmoreland

Wesson, John

circa 1774

Surry

West, George

1754

Fairfax and Loudoun

West, John, Jr.

1749

Fairfax

Whitesides, Thomas

circa 1775

Henrico

Wood, James

1734, 1745

Orange, Frederick

Woods, Robert

circa 1785

(Ohio)

     

From Williamsburg to Wills Creek the Fry Jefferson Map of Virginia, an Exhibition at the Library of Virginia, 2009.

 

Want to find out more?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for other resources to help you find materials of interest.

Questions? Have ideas or updates for articles you'd like to see? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090.

A note about the contents of this site

This website contains the best available information from known sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information in this website is not complete, and it changes as we continue to research and uncover new sources.