Maps

Sometimes when I'm researching, I really need a more visual representation of what I am studying.  I have compiled these maps to help me figure out the geography of where our Brewer ancestors were living in comparison to one another, and to other known residents of the area.  

1790 Brewer Residences

Isaac Brewer (1763-1852) and his neighbors, gathered from BLM land records, 1850 census and a petition in his pension application file

I designed the following to show the various modern day counties of southeastern Virginia, with respect to the original shires and counties. As population of a county increased and as the settlers spread out, it became necessary to create new counties, cut them from portions of old ones and to change boundaries. It is important for me to be able to visualize where our Brewer ancestors lived, and whether or not they actually moved when they lived in one county and then another.

Original regions are color coded. Within the James City area, the right slanted lines show the original land of Isle of Wight County, which later formed Southampton and part of Brunswick and later Greenville. The horizontal lines show the original boundaries of Surry County, from which Sussex and part of Brunswick and later Greensville were cut. The left slanted lines within Charles City show the original lands of Prince George County, from which Dinwiddie and parts of Brunswick and others were formed. The vertical lines show the original boundaries of Brunswick County, and what counties were cut from it later on. It's not a perfect representation, but I hope that it helps.


I have also created Grid Maps for later land acquisitions, from records found on the BLM Website ➚. You might find these interesting, as I have included not only maps, but also charts with additional information about each land owner, starting with the earliest settlers to obtain land in a given area.