These land records were taken from patents, references to unfound patents mentioned in later deeds, a tithes list, deeds, order book entries, land tax records, and notations to the land tax records. In some cases, the records might not have actually involved Bowen land, but Bowen land was mentioned within the deeds.

The land tax records included some notations which often indicated changes in ownership or at least changes in who was to be held responsible for paying the taxes for the land. Many of these notations included the terms "alienation" or "alteration" after the record. Sometimes corresponding deeds were found which matched these tax notations, but not always. Sometimes the acreage in a deed and corresponding notation did not match, but in most cases it did. Perhaps ownership of the land did change but no deed was ever recorded. Perhaps the land did not change ownership at all but another person who was using the land was responsible for paying the taxes. I don't know.

These notations were stated entirely backwards from what you might expect. If the deed was from X to Y, the corresponding tax notation referred to it as Y to X. There is probably a good reason for this - but I don't know what it is.

The only definitions I have been able to find concerning "alienation" and "alteration" came from webpages concerning real estate transactions. I found nothing referring specifically to land taxes. It's quite possible that these terms have a slightly different meaning as applied to land taxes. Perhaps when it comes to land taxes, these terms refer to whether or not the changes in responsibility for paying the taxes were made with authorization/approval or not. However, in examining the records, I cannot find any clear pattern that supports this. No idea I've considered seems to work consistently.

The following are some of the definitions I found that relate to transfers of real estate, not to land taxes. They are also modern definitions, and the older definitions may not have been quite the same.

ALTERATION:
A change made to an executed contract which has not been approved by the parties to the contract. An alteration may constitute fraud if it has the impact of significantly affecting the rights of a party to the contract and was intentionally carried out by another party. If fraud is found, the innocent party may void the contract.

ALTERATION:
An unauthorized modification of a contract by one of the parties to the contract. The alteration is considered material when it affects the rights of the parties to the contract. If the alteration is intentional and material, it will be treated as fraud and the innocent party may void the contract at his or her option.

ALIENATION:
The act of transferring property to another. Alienation may be voluntary, such as by gift or sale, or involuntary, such as through eminent domain or adverse possession.

ALIENATION:
The voluntary transfer of property and possession of the land or tenements from one party to another.