SIMS INDEX TO LAND GRANTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
published by the State of West Virginia, 1952

Preface by Edgar B. Sims, State Auditor, Charleston, WV 1952:

“The land grants listed herein were made by Lord Fairfax prior to the creation of the Virginia Land Office; by the Commonwealth of Virginia, of lands now embracing the state of West Virginia; and, by the State of Virginia, under its first Constitution. Preparation of this index was made pursuant to Chapter 120, Acts of the 1951 Session of the West Virginia Legislature.

“The information contained herein was compiled after an exhaustive and careful page-by-page examination of the copies of land grants filed in my office, and no effort has been spared to assure that the spellings of the names of grantees, locations and descriptions of tracts, are accurate as herein listed. Many variations of spellings of grantees’ names were encountered, and required indexing under each spelling, or as a repetition of the names in a different spelling as shown in parentheses. In case of doubt as to correct spellings, due to illegibility of some of the penmanship, careful comparisions were made with the land books of the Commissioner of Revenue, now the Assessor, of the county in which the tract is located.

“The editorial work and preparation of this index was done by Mary F. Tessiatore, Mary E. Easton, Spurgeon H. White, and Keith Clark, under the supervision of James M. Hardman, Chief of the Land Department of my office.”

-- Edgar B. Sims

Kate’s Notes: 
The entries in the Sims Index are organized by county so I personally reviewed the records for each of West Virginia’s counties in order to sort and gather the Gilliland entries. Should anyone spot an omission on my part please bring it to my attention so I may revise this document.

Researching old land records for West Virginia can present its own challenges for family genealogists. The counties of early Virginia were in a state of constant flux and when the state of West Virginia was formed in 1863 not only were previous Virginia counties incorporated into this new state, these counties continued to evolve and divide. I’ve provided two URLs which may help to explain the evolution of West Virginia’s counties.

http://www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/revwarbi.html
http://www.retracing-our-family-legacy.com/reference_formation_va_co.html

BATH COUNTY
Grantee / Acres / Local Description / Year / Book / Page

Gilliland, Samuel
50
Wts. Greenbrier
1797
1
28

GREENBRIER COUNTY
Grantee / Acres / Local Description / Year / Book / Page

Gillelan--Gilleland--Gillilan--Gilliland
Gillelan, James
205
Adj. R. Clendenin
1785
1
92

Gillelan, Nathan
580
Adj. Wm. Poage
1785
1
105

Gilleland, James
148
Spring Creek
1796
3
389

Gilleland, James
50
Spring Cr.
1809
5
232

Gilleland, Samuel (Gilliland)
560
Spring Cr.
1787
1
371

Gilleland, Samuel
284
L. Levels
1795
3
214

Gilleland, Samuel et al
387
Spring Cr.
1788
2
180

Gilleland, Samuel et al
840
Sinking Cr.
1788
2
181

Gilliland, James
300
Adj. George Clendenen
1793
3
81

Gilliland, James
350
Adj. Jame Armstrong
1787
2
15

Gilliland, James (Gillilan)
450
Adj. C. Wahab
1787
2
63

Gilliland, Robert
45
Wts. Greenbrier
1823
6
34

Gilliland, Samuel et al
712
Sinking Creek
1788
2
179

Gillilan, William (Gillilaw)
490
Meadow River
1799
4
570

NICHOLAS COUNTY
Grantee / Acres / Local Description / Year / Book / Page

Gillilan, Samuel
350
Muddlethepeg
1827
1
217

POCAHONTAS COUNTY
Grantee / Acres / Local Description / Year / Book / Page

Gilliland, John
125
Naps Creek
1826
1
50

Gilliland, John
50
Brown’s Mt.
1834
1
164

Gilliland, Robert
240
Indian Draught
1827
1
62