"Fauquier County was established by Act of the General Assembly of Virginia on 1 May 1759. ...The first instruments recorded in the Deed Books were the Bonds of Joseph Blackwell as Sheriff and Thomas Marshall as Surveyor, on 24 May 1759."Fauquier County is one of the few Virginia counties to have all of its deed books extant. The abstracts in this volume cover the county's first six deed books, and, in addition to deeds, include a variety of records such as: leases, bonds, contracts of sale, commissions, mortgages, agreements, etc."Each abstract is meant to cover the original recorded instrument as fully as possible; giving the names of every individual mentioned." Each abstract gives the names of the grantor(s) and grantee(s) as well as other individuals mentioned; slaves (when named) are included, as well as spouses' names. Geographical features are included, but the exact dimensions of the land are not given in this work. Page numbers identify the placement of the original records for the researcher who may want to do further reading.