VA Military Certificate #4144 - Revolutionary Continental Line - Zachariah Cook

Description

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This item is an 1831 certified true copy (by William Selden, Registrar of the Virginia Land Office) of Virginia Revolutionary War Land Warrant #4144, originally issued in 1786 by Patrick Henry.  The warrant holder - Zachariah Cook - lost his original warrant and went to the Virginia Land Office to obtain a certified copy and this item was issued on July 16, 1831.  The original warrant was signed by Virginia Governor Patrick Henry and
The obverse of the document reads "No. 4144 Zachariah Cook is entitled to the proportion of Land allowed a Private of the [Virginia] Continental Line for three years service.  Council Chamber April 11, 1786, P[atrick] Henry.  J[ames] Meriwether.  A warrant for 100 acres issued to Zachariah Cook the 13th Apr 1786.""
Then, the signature of
"Wm [For William} Selden, R[egistrar] L[and] Office July 16, 1831.
"
Then on the reverse
:
"Greenbrier County to-wit:  This day Zachariah Cook came before me the Subscriber, a justice of the peace for the County aforesaid in the State of Virginia and made oath that the within Warrant No 4144 is lost or mislaid and that it was not sold or Transferred by Him.  Given Under my hand this 24th day of May 1832."  Signed "David Harrison"
Then:
"2 R. Code 384 Sect 6 requires that the loss should be certified by Court."
Then:
"Greenbrier County Court:  November Term 1832  The Above Affidavit was presented in COurt and it is ordered to be certified they are Satisfied that the same is just and that the said Zachariah Cook is Justly entitle to the renewal of his Warrant as mentioned within.  A Copy Teste, John Mathews CGC."
Using the database of Kentucky Land awarded to Virginia Line soldiers, I took the third photograph.  It actually shows the original warrant was used after all somehow and somewhere.  The Kentucky Land office has it.  So this item shows that something else interesting happened many years later.
Some Background:  The act of the General Assembly passed on June 22, 1779, which established the Virginia Land Office, also provided for the awarding of bounty lands for specified Revolutionary War military service. The purpose of the bounty land system was to encourage longer military service. In order to qualify for bounty land, a soldier or sailor had to serve at least three (3) years continuously in the State or Continental Line or State Navy. Militia service did not count. The process of obtaining bounty lands was lengthy, and, in many cases, land speculators acquired the right to the land from the veteran or his heirs.
Servicemen submitted various documents such as affidavits of commanding officers and fellow soldiers and discharge papers in order to substantiate their service record. The Governor's Office reviewed and approved or disapproved the applications. The accumulated papers used to verify service are called "Bounty Warrants" if the claim was approved and "Rejected Claims" if the claim was disapproved. If a soldier or sailor died while in service, his heirs were required to submit documentation verifying their status as legal heirs in addition to proof of the veteran's military service.
When a claim was proved, the Governor's Office issued a military certificate to the register of the Land Office  authorizing him to issue a warrant specifying the amount of land to be received and directing the land to be surveyed
(so this item is NOT the actual warrant - it is an 1831 certified copy)
. The amount of land awarded was based on the rank of the soldier and the amount of time served. Virginia retained no records of the next two steps in the process, which was to have the land surveyed based on the warrant, followed by the issuance of a grant. The first warrant was issued in 1783 and the last in 1876 as heirs of warrantees continued to seek lands for additional service.
This was folded into eighths and then retained by Mr. Cook.
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