Several of Hempstead's original fifty patentees had Dutch surnames. Stableford was also President of the UK's Institute of Patentees and Inventors. His father Richard Treat was one of the original patentees of the colony. Benson had separately purchased the fee rights from the descendants of the patentees. He traveled to Georgetown for a meeting with the original patentees in March 1791. Martin arrived in Albemarle County in 1745, one of the original patentees. It was divided, as was the town itself, into 41 parcels for the original patentees. Many of the patentees never saw the land they bought or were given. The original patentees were Wolfert Gerritse van Kouwenhoven and Andries Hudde. In the early years, DuBois and his fellow patentees governed the land communally. Other original patentees were Oscar Ray Call, Behne's former mining partner, and Henry Abstein. Patentees were dissatisfied, and courts were overwhelmed with patent lawsuits.