Land Records such as asset tax lists, deeds and deed indexes go back added in time that any other type of genealogical study record. Deeds can help you contemplate your heritage. Deeds can often provide evidence of house history relationships, names of neighbors, how long an ancestor was living in an area, given name of the female spouse, approximate dates of death and many other useful clues. The Homestead Act of 1862 enabled almost 800,000 citizens or intended citizen to come to be landowners. Many states had their own land lotteries beginning in the 1700's to bring citizen to new territory and help compose communities.
Why Land Records?
Tracing males is easier than females. This is due in large part to many extra available records for males, such as railroad, military, voters, tax, and deed records. It is estimated that 90% of the adult white male citizen owned land.
Land records such as asset tax lists, deeds, and real estate transactions go back added in time than any other record used for genealogical research. inescapable Scandinavian land records date back to 950 A.D. In this country, land possession has always been important. If a courthouse was destroyed, the deed records were reconstructed by local authorities soon after.
Prior to 1860, census records only list head of household. If you find a land record, it might have more than one house member listed, which can help in filling out missing house information. If you can find any type of land record for your ancestors, it will provide evidence of where an ancestor lived and for how long.
Land Definitions
A certify -Is the first document in the land grant process. Warrants were issued to soldiers for aid in various wars, including the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The certify could be assigned or sold to someone other than the someone granted the certify before the land was surveyed.
A contemplate - Defines the exact location and boundaries of the land grant authorized in the warrant. The land had to be marked on the ground before the land grant could be possessed. The contemplate might comprise the names of the surveyor's assistants, who were often chosen because they lived next door to the asset being surveyed, giving insight to tracing your house history.
A Patent - Is the title certificate issued by the governmental group that originally owned the land.
Subsequent Exchanges of Land
After a patent had been issued to a landowner, he had the right to sell the land to someone else in the form of a deed, but the recording of such land sales became a local responsibility. Unlike the warrant, surveys, or patents, which were recorded at the state or federal level, exchanges of land subsequent to the land grant process are recorded at the county level development it easier to trace your house genealogy. This is true for all states except three New England States, where the deeds are recorded at the town level (Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont), and Alaska, the only state with no counties and where land exchanges are recorded at the Judicial District level. In Louisiana, deeds are recorded at the parish level, which is the same as a county in other states.
Some definitions related to land exchanges at the county or town level are as follows:
• Deed... The private document which records that the possession of a parcel of land was transferred from one party to another. A copy of a deed is recorded in the county or town the land is located, even though the sale of the land may have taken place somewhere else. house history traced by the deed certificate then acts as the title to asset in the possession of the buyer. There are some types of deeds, such as Warranty, Trust, or Quit Claim Deeds, all of which may be used to exchange or relinquish a claim to property.
• Grantor... The party selling or relinquishing land.
• Grantee... The party buying or being granted land.
• Grantor/Grantee Index... The index to private land exchanges. In some counties it may be called the Direct (Grantor) Index and the Indirect (Grantee) Index. Or, it may be called the Index to Real Estate Conveyances. This index can be found in all Us counties kept by the county recorder or register of deeds.
Land Description
Land was surveyed and divided into sections from the point of the base (which runs east and west) and meridian (running north and south). A contemplate will sometimes tell you a lot more than just about the corporeal record of the land. The surveyor might comprise added details about the neighbors and your relatives. A land record will have the following information:
Township - Is identified by its connection to a base line and a significant meridian. For example, "township 5 South, Range 11 West, 5th significant Meridian" identifies a township that is 5 tiers south from the base line of the 5th significant Meridian.
Range - Is used in conjunction with the township data field identifies a row or tier of townships lying east or west of the significant meridian and numbered successively to the east or west from the significant meridian. In the above example, the number 12 represents the Range number that is used to identify the township that is 12 tiers to the west of the significant meridian.
Section - This number identifies a tract of land, commonly 1 mile square, within a township. Most townships comprise 36 sections. Proper sections comprise 640 acres. A section number identifies each section within a township. A half section contains 320 acres. A quarter section contains 160 acres. Half a quarter contains 80 acres. A quarter of a quarter contains 40 acres.
Aliquot Parts - were used to recount the exact subdivision of the section of land. Halves of a Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as N, S, E, and W (such as "the north half of section 5"). Quarters of a Section (or subdivision thereof) are represented as Nw, Sw, Ne, and Se (such as "the northwest quarter of section 5"). Sometimes, some Aliquot Parts are required to accurately quote a parcel of land. For example, "Esw" denotes the east half of the southwest quarter containing 80 acres and "Swnene" denotes the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter containing 10 acres.
Tips for looking Deeds
You need to know the county to look in. If you have a time frame and approximate county, go to the county formations map to look at the surrounding counties to narrow down your search. The transformation of land into county formations progressed gently over time. In some cases there was a lapse of a few years between the creation date and the club date of counties. Knowing when a county was formed or changed, can make a difference in looking the right information or no information at all.
If you are thriving with looking a deed, check the neighbors deeds, they could be related or offer added clues. You might use a map to find the closest cemetery to see if you have relatives buried in the county they were living in. Other county documents like taxation lists or wills might help you with tracing your house genealogy.
Where to Trace Deeds
Look through the Indexes, to get deed book and page information. The indexes commonly span some decades, development it easy to uncover inherent house history.
Research at the courthouse. You can try to uncover a local genealogical community or Raogk to see if someone would do the study for you.
Research by mail. A county's register of deed records may look in a deed index for you if your invite is concise. Ask for someone to check the Grantor/Grantee Index for evidence of your ancestor's name during a period of about twenty years should help with tracing your house history. The index will indicate the book and page number for a deed transcript. You can then ask for copies of the deeds themselves.
Research by microfilm. Go online and look up the Library Catalog through house hunt to see what they have on microfilm for deed and asset taxes. Note the film information and film number, and then visit your local house History center to order the exact film.
Research the Blm records. Bureau of Land administration has many online records for tracing house genealogy information on land patents and land surveys for group Land States. study the local historical society. The local historical community that is in the county your ancestor lived in might be able to help uncover old maps or land information.
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