in servants in small groups, distributed among vessels devoted
chiefly to merchandise, the patents would be small; if they came in on
immigrant vessels, in numbers ranging from 50 to 200, the patents would
be large.

Apparently both methods were in vogue. There are grants recorded varying
in size from 50 acres to 10,000 acres.[3-22] Beyond doubt many
merchants, finding that their vessels on the western voyage were not
fully laden, from time to time took on a few indentured servants. If
they furnished accommodation for from ten to twenty immigrants, they
could demand, in addition to the sale of the indentures, 500 to 1,000
acres of land. It was a frequent practice, also, for planters in
Virginia to send orders to their agents in England to procure and ship
one or more servants as need for them arose.[3-23] "Your brother George
hath moved you in his letters to send him over some servants the next
year," wrote Richard Kemp to Robert Read in 1639.[3-24] Undoubtedly in
cases of this kind the servants usually sailed in small parties upon the
regular merchant vessels.

On the other hand it would appear that large numbers of persons arrived
on strictly immigrant vessels, in which they made the chief if not the
only cargo. Some of the best known men in the colony were dealers in
servants and reaped from the business very large profits. Of these
perhaps the best known in the earlier period was William Claiborne,
celebrated for his dispute with the Maryland proprietors over the
possession of Kent Island. Peter Ashton was another extensive dealer in
servants, at one time receiving 2,550 acres for his headrights, at
another 2,000. Isaac Allerton, Lewis Burwell, Giles Brent, Joseph
Bridger and many others of like prominence are upon the patent rolls for
large grants. The most inveterate dealer in servants, however, was
Robert Beverley. This well known planter, so famous for his part in
Bacon's Rebellion and in the political contests which grew out of it, is
credited with patents aggregating 25,000 or 30,000 acres.[3-25]

Often partnerships were formed for the importation of servants, in which
cases the patents were made out jointly. Among the more interesting are
patents to Robert Beverley and Henry Hartwell, to Thomas Butt and Thomas
Milner, to William Bassett and James Austin, to Thomas Blunt and Richard
Washington. When associations of three or more persons were formed for
the importation of servants, a not infrequent occurrenc