Thomas Todd

“ There is no proof, and no reason to believe, that Thomas Powell ever performed any military service in the Virginia line on Continental establishment.
It is, then, apparent that the register of the land office has, by mistake, given a warrant for military services in the Continental line, on a certificate authorizing a warrant for service in the State line; and that, in recording it, he has pursued the certificate, and not the warrant. ”

“ This certificate is filed and preserved in the office as the document on which the warrant issued. It is as much a part of the record as the warrant itself.
A warrant and survey authorize the proprietor of them to demand the legal title, but do not, in themselves, constitute a legal title. Until the consummation of the title by a grant, the person who acquires an equity holds a right subject to examination. The validity of every document is then open to examination, whatever the law may be after the emanation of a patent. ”

“ They have brought an ejectment against the heirs of Justus Miller, who having, as they say, the elder equitable, though the junior legal title, have filed this bill to enjoin proceedings at law, and compel Neville's heirs to convey the legal title to them. ”