Check to see if deeds  have been filmed by Salt Lake for the area you are researching

 

Note: Before long you will be able to order film through an online FamilySearch form - you look it up in the catalog, put in the number, it goes in a shopping cart and it will be sent to your local branch.


Form for mapping a township
Form for mapping a section
 

Finding Courthouses to see what they have available

 

Land work done right usually means reconstructing Grandpa’s immediate neighborhood to some degree (unless he lived in a city)

Before you start with deeds go through the groupsheets or other papers you have for the people that lived in this place.  Make a cluster list using anyone’s name who appears on that list – especially those you won’t immediately recognize on your own.     Put them in alphabetical order by surname and a small note after their name ie:

Craig, Thomas – husband of James Tharp’s daughter Louisa
Landers, Nathaniel – husband of James Tharp’s sister Lucy
Morris, Timothy – next door neighbor to James Tharp on all the census


So what is in a deed book?

You don't have to be able to read every word - once you learn the main parts of a deed it becomes much easier to identify what is important

 

but other things are found in deed books as well:

sometimes detailed kinship ties 1 2 3

occupations, neighbors, family fights, old age provisions, apprenticeships/indentured servants

dower divisions like these from Kentucky  1      2 3

emancipations 1  sales of slaves 1

depositions  1 2

mortgages

Start with online resources - Since we have few places where deeds are digitized at this point make sure you

Google search – come up with good terms and remember alternative spellings
some terms to try in various ways
deeds – land – surname – “given name surname” – Ballows Creek – “whatever county” state


 

Dig deep in WorldConnect to find abstracts of deeds Choose an Advanced Search on Google Under “search within a site or domain” put  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ under keywords  try things like deeds acres mccorkle rockbridge virginia land acres kenworthy virginia

Google Books Search
Google WILL bring things up from Google Books but for this kind of search it is best to go straight to Google Books.  Here are some examples of what you can find at GoogleBooks:

Some helpful people are copying deed indexes for others to view: 

New York: Ontario County Records & Archive Center has many indexes including a deed index
New York: Oswego Co. Deed Indexes is a similar site

Google your county and "deed index" to see if someone could have done something similar for you

When working in deed books:

Try to locate information on ANYONE mentioned in Grandpa’s deed.  Buyer-Seller-Neighbor-Witness.   If the name is not extremely common,  look for that FAMILY (not just the individual) in that place. 

Try Google
Try WorldConnect & Ancestry World Tree
Try Google Books

Some more good tips on Analyzing Deeds for Useful Clues From the Board for Certification of Genealogists

Use the Real Thing:

Online Digitized Collections:



Maryland:  MDLandRec.Net has all deed indexes and deeds that still exist in the state of Maryland - and an index to patents.  You have to apply for a user name and password and you have free access

Pennsylvania:  the Lancaster Co. Court has digitized ALL deeds for that county - which once covered much of central & western PA - The index that they have does not seem to work very well but people at GenWeb have digitized the original deed index and from their page is a link to the records from the Lancaster Court

Vermont: Vermont Land Records - Early to 1900 are being scanned by FamilySearch Record Search but be aware they are not indexed at this time so you must use the scanned index to each volume they have available.


 

What does this mean?

the consideration (price) seems really low.   Grandpa selling land at an extremely low rate usually implies a) he owed this person something or b) there is a kinship tie.  If something seems odd look at other deeds around him.  What price were they selling their land for?

One common way to sell land to a family member was to simply charge them one dollar. 1 2

Grandma doesn’t release dower right  in my early American deed – look at the other deeds.  Are you seeing steady dower release in that place? 

States and colonies differed in customs and sometimes even counties did things differently.  If most deeds show wives, but your Samuel’s deeds aren’t showing a release by his wife Elizabeth, the most obvious answer is she may have died OR he may be selling to someone so close to him (kinship etc.) that they didn’t think it was necessary for her to sign. This didn’t happen too often in places where dower release was required but it’s a possibility.

To find out the rules on dower in your state go to GoogleBooks and type in terms like  dower law Connecticut etc. and you will find great stuff that helps.

Grandpa refers to this person as “beloved” – anytime you see affectionate vocabulary it means something important to Grandpa’s story.  Usually a deed will say “my beloved son” but sometimes they just leave out the full description.   Considerations “for the love I bear” etc. are nearly always family and always worth pursuing.


Citing Land Records (examples) - the main purpose of citations is so that if you need to you can return to the record

Example for an online digital collection [the site is real, the citation is made up]

Vermont Land Records, Early to 1900. digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: Feb 22, 2011). Transfer of Land Deed from John Babcock to Lucy Whatzername, 13 Jun 1855  Danville, Caledonia, Vermont, Image 16.

If you know yourself and know you won't do all that at least go for the basics:

Deed Book 12, Danville Caledonia Co. VT p. 14

There is a nice set of sample citations here that tell the basics of what you need without being overly rigid in form.  If you are using genealogy software it will help make it easy if you learn to use it!



 

 

 

 

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