Updated November 25, 2022
Background:
In 1782 the General Assembly of Virginia enacted new tax laws which created within each county an enumeration of land and certain personal property. These early land tax laws required a tax commissioner in each district of a county to record a list of the names of persons owning land or town lots, the quantity of land owned and its value, and the amount of tax owed. By 1813, a brief geographic description (usually citing an adjacent stream, road, or other landmark) was required; in 1814, the distance and direction from the courthouse for each parcel was also added to the tax rolls.
Roger G. Ward's work is an alphabetical listing of all 1815 landowners found in each county, as well as the accompanying description of the location of the said property. Ward not included the number of acres, taxes assessed, or any transactions between landowners which may have been noted on the tax rolls; also, in many cases the geographic location was provided as "adjacent to John Smith", etc. and, while useful many times to a genealogist, was considered to be beyond the objectives of this project. The reader is encouraged to consider the information here-in as an "outline" of early landowners in Virginia rather than a "text" due to the year-to-year variation in information provided to the clerk (or recorded by the clerk), omissions, lack of "identifiers" to determine if "same name" was also "same person" within a district or across districts, marginal quality/clarity (in a few cases) of the microfilm copy, and, not least, errors on the part of either the original clerks or the current author while transcribing. Some of the approaches to utilizing the 1815 landowner information include:
1. observe distinct clusters of the same surname within a county in order to clarify the common surnames such as "Smith", etc;
2. identify non-resident landowners and their county (or state) of residence (these people often being former residents of the current county);
3. determine neighbors with different surnames (often being relatives);
4. use the 1815 information as a "bridge" from the 18th and 19th century deed/will books to the 17th and 18th century land grants/patents in the county;
5. evaluate the 1810 to 1840 census information which generally grouped neighbors;
6. substitute this information for missing deed/will books in the "burned" counties; and, clarify/enhance vague deed/will information in the counties with more complete records.
Overview:
| Last Name | First Name | County | Location | Miles from Courthouse |
| Gillam | Frederick | Albemarle | 7E | |
| Gillum | James | Albemarle | 14W | |
| Gillum | John B. | Albemarle | ||
| Gillum | Rebekah, Mrs., Dower | Albemarle | 7SE | |
| Gillum | John | Albemarle | Carters Mountain | 4SE |
| Gillum | Elisha D | Albemarle | Carters Mountain | 4SE |
| Gilliam | John, Jr. | Albemarle | Mechams River | 12SW |
| Gillum | John, brother of Cornelius | Albemarle | Mechams River | 12SW |
| Gillum | Pleasant | Albemarle | Mechams River | 12SW |
| Gillum | Cornelius | Albemarle | Whitesides Creek | 18SW |
| Gilham | William, Estate | Amelia | 17SE | |
| Gilliam | Archibald, Jr. | Amherst | 20N | |
| Gilliam | Archibald | Amherst | 10NW | |
| Gilliam | Jarratt | Amherst | 14SW | |
| Gilliam | John | Amherst | Maple Creek | 18W |
| Gilliam | Samuel | Brunswick | Waqua Creek | 16W, 9N |
| Gilliam | James | Buckingham | 12S | |
| Gilliam | John, son of John | Buckingham | ||
| Gilliam | John, son of David | Buckingham | ||
| Gilliam | William of Prince Edward | Buckingham | Appomattox River | 14S |
| Gilliam | Isham | Buckingham | Buckingham Road, Planterstown | 13S, 16S |
| Gilliam | John | Buckingham | Ducker Creek | 15S |
| Gilliam | Nancy, Estate | Buckingham | Ripley Creek | 6N |
| Gilliam | Richard, son of Epaphroditus | Buckingham | Willis river | 8S |
| Gilliam | Richard Curd | Buckingham | Willis River | 15S |
| Gilliam | Susannah | Buckingham | Willis River | 15S |
| Gilliam | James | Campbell | Lynchburg | |
| Gilliam | Charles, Estate | Campbell | Opossum Creek | 8N |
| Gilliam | Charles, Jr. | Campbell | Opossum Creek | 8N |
| Gilliam | Eliza | Campbell | Opossum Creek | 8N |
| Gilliam | Allen | Charlotte | Horsepen Creek | 12S |
| Gilliam | Reuben | Chesterfield | ||
| Gilliam | Meriweather S. | Dinwiddie | Chamberlains Bed | 1N |
| Gilliam | James S., Estate | Dinwiddie | Hatchers Run | 10NE |
| Gilliam | James S., Estate | Dinwiddie | High Street, Petersburg | |
| Gilliam | Robert, Estate | Dinwiddie | Old Blandford, Petersburg | |
| Gilliam | William. Estate | Dinwiddie | Old Blandford, Petersburg | |
| Gilliam | Elizabeth | Dinwiddie | Reedy Branch | 12SW |
| Gilliam | Robert of Cumberland County | Fluvanna | Bryants Road | 9SE |
| Gwilliam | Edgecombe | Franklin | Town Creek | 8SW |
| Gilliam | John C. | Goochland | 16NW | |
| Gilliam | John | Goochland | 16NW | |
| Gilliam | Mary, Dower | Goochland | 26NW | |
| Gilliam | Taylor, Decd | Goochland | 26NW | |
| Gilliam | James S., Decd | Goochland | Elk Island, lower part | 16SW |
| Gilliam | John of Prince George county | Goochland | Elk Island, upper part | 16SW |
| Gilman | Dickey | Hanover | 15W | |
| Gilliam | Walter Boyd of Prince George | Hanover | Part in Goochland | 25W |
| Gilman | Dicky and Walter Crenshaw | Hanover | Scotchtown Mills | 16W |
| Gilliam | William (see James Boxley) | Louisa | ||
| Gilliam | Jas | Louisa | Ducking Hole | |
| Gilliam | Richard | Nelson | ||
| Gilliam | Epaphraod (Epaphroditus) | New Kent | ||
| Gilham | James S., Estate | Nottoway | Little Celler Creek | 11NE |
| Gilliam | Susanna, Life | Powhatan | Middle Road | 12W |
| Gilliam | John | Prince Edward | ||
| Gilliam | William | Prince Edward | Buffalo river | 13SW |
| Gilliam | James, Jr. | Prince Edward | Sawneys Creek | 20W |
| Gilliam | James, Sr. | Prince Edward | Walkers Church | 18NW |
| Gilliam | Christian | Prince George | Appomattox River | 8N |
| Gilliam | John | Prince George | Appomattox River | 6W |
| Gilliam | Rubin M | Prince George | Appomattox River | 8NW |
| Gilliam | Walter B., Life | Prince George | Appomattox River | 8NW |
| Gilliam | James S. of Petersburg, Estate | Prince George | Blackwater Swamp, Appomattox River | 7SW, 8NW |
| Gilliam | William, Estate | Prince George | Broadway on the Appomattox River | 9N |
| Gilliam | Reubin M. | Richmond | Coal Yard | |
| Gilliam | Reubin M | Richmond | Coal Yard | |
| Gilliam | Lucy | Southampton | | 12N |
| Gilliam | Penelope | Southampton | | 15S |
| Gilliam | Susan | Southampton | | 12N |
| Gilliam | Richard, Estate | Southampton | Meherrin River | 25W |
| Gilliam | Celia | Southampton | Nottoway River | 13NW |
| Gilliam | Martha | Southampton | Racoon Swamp | 12N |
| Gilliam | Joseph | Southampton | Three Creek | 25W |
| Gilliam | Carter | Sussex | 8SE | |
| Gilliam | Drury | Sussex | 9SE | |
| Gilliam | Elizabeth, Life | Sussex | 9SE | |
| Gilliam | Henry R | Sussex | 15S | |
| Gilliam | Patsey, Life | Sussex | 18W, 16W, 14SW | |
| Gilliam | Patty, Life | Sussex | 5SE | |
| Gilliam | Sarah, Life | Sussex | 8SE | |
| Gilliam | William | Sussex | 7S | |
| Gilliam | John W. of Brunswick County, VA | Sussex | Blackwater Swamp | 20E |
| Gilliam | William, decd, Estate | Surry | Otter Dam,. Blackwater | 20W, 16SW |
| Gilliam | William, trustee for R. Smith and Ro. Ruffin and assignee on the trust | Surry | 16W | |
| Gilliam | William of York County | Warwick | Head of Warwick River | 5NW |
| Gilham | David C. | Frederick | 8SW | |
| Gilham | Peter, heirs | Frederick | 9SW | |
| Gilham | William | Alexandria | D2p5, Dep5 | |
| Gilham | Ephraim | Alexandria | D3p4, D2p4 | |
| Gilham | William | Montgomery | South fork of Little River | 20S |
| Gillam | Richard | Scott | Both sides of Copper Creek | 7NE |
| Gillum | David | Scott | Clinch River | 20W |
| Gilman | Nathan C. | Wood | ||
| Gilman | Thomas | Wood | ||
| Gilman | Whittingham | Wood |
Sources
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER, Volume 1, Central Region (Includes the counties of Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Buckingham, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, independent city of Petersburg, independent city of Richmond, Louisa, Nelson, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan, and Prince George.)
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER Volume 2, South Central Region (Includes the counties of Bedford, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Southampton, and Sussex.)
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER Volume 3, Eastern Region. (Includes the counties of Accomack, Caroline, Elizabeth City, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Nansemond, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Princess Anne, Richmond, Surry, Warwick, Westmoreland, York, and the independent city of Norfolk.)
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER Volume 4, Northern Region. (Includes the counties of Culpeper, Virginia, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Independent City of Alexandria, Independent City of Fredericksburg, Independent City of Winchester, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, Prince William, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford)
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER Volume 5, Western Region. (Includes counties of: Augusta, Bath, Botetourt, Giles, Grayson, Greenbrier ([W.]Va.), Independent City of Staunton, Lee, Monroe, Montgomery, Pendleton, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Washington, Wythe)
- Ward, Roger G. 1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER Volume 6, Northwest Region. (Includes the counties of Berkeley, Brooke, Cabell, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Mason, Monongalia, Ohio, Pendleton, Randolph, Tyler, and Wood)