The Virginia - North Carolina border was in dispute for many years. In the early days of English settlement, what became North Carolina and South Carolina was a part of Virginia, as was most land along the east coast. Carolina was separated out when the Lords Proprietors were given title to the Carolina province in 1663. The boundary between the two colonies was revised in 1655 giving Carolinians control over already occupied lands on the Albemarle Sound. For the years that followed the dispute continued, however, over the exact location of the border. The issue was not resolved until the survey of William Byrd II in 1728, and the extension of that survey to the west by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1749.
The effect of the disputed border was that both the Virginia colony and the Carolina colony claimed jurisdiction and both issued grants in the same areas. Settlers sometimes took advantage of the dispute declaring their lands in the most favorable jurisdiction.
For genealogy researchers, the effect of the long-disputed border makes it difficult to determine the location of some ancestors.
The effect of the disputed border was that both the Virginia colony and the Carolina colony claimed jurisdiction and both issued grants in the same areas. Settlers sometimes took advantage of the dispute declaring their lands in the most favorable jurisdiction.
For genealogy researchers, the effect of the long-disputed border makes it difficult to determine the location of some ancestors.