Join my mailing list for my free email newsletter by Tuesday, September 13, 2011, and I’ll enter you in a random drawing to win Paul Larsen’s Book AND CD, Crash Course in Family History (4th edition), a value of $64.90, generously donated by Paul Larsen for this drawing.   This is a great offer, so head [...]

Hopefully by now, you are thinking outside the box.  Rather than a narrow view of looking at one record and then concluding that you cannot solve your problem, you are looking at all possible sources including censuses, land, military, probate, etc., and are expanding your search to include siblings, in-laws, neighbors, and associates. Let me [...]

GeneaPress has published the following announcement on August 29, 2011: Ancestry.com Offers Free Access to Immigration and Naturalization Records Week of Free Access Enables Families to Discover Stories of Ancestors’ International Travels and Passage PROVO, UTAH – (August 29, 2011) – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced an entire week of [...]

I thought you might be interested in hearing about some of the vendors that will be demonstrating their products or services at the FGS Springfield Illinois conference. If you are not going to this conference, or can’t make it to one of these demos, you can check out the vendors’ websites linked below. Come with [...]

So now you know how to find a deed, the terminology in it, and the parts of a deed.   You should abstract and transcribe the deed.  Then, plot the location of the parcel along with the neighbors.  You may find the neighbors by reading the boundaries of the parcel in the property description.  Next, overlay [...]

The following announcement was made by FamilySearch on August 24, 2011.  The word on the street as of Friday, August 26, is that the rooms are going fast.  Don’t be left out in the cold (pun intended).  Reserve your rooms now.  RootsTech 2012 Official Hotels Announced Conference Attendees Can Make Hotel Reservations Now RootsTech 2012 [...]

The first time you look at a deed, you may think there’s too much legal language and it’s too confusing, but once you understand how deeds are usually arranged, it will be easy to pick out the information you need. So, hang in there while I explain it to you.  I promise, you’ll feel a [...]

Once you have your hands on your ancestor’s land record, congratulations!  Sometimes finding it is the real challenge!  Now, does the deed look Greek to you or are you able to decipher the document?   If Greek or you need a refresher, here’s a sampling of the terms you should know: Consideration: The amount of money that is given [...]

Once the land had transferred to private hands from the government (whether it was a State Land State or a Public Land State), subsequent transfers were recorded at the county level. After a sale took place, typically the buyer brought the deed to the county courthouse and presented it to the clerk who then copied [...]

If your ancestor was the first to settle a parcel of land, and chances are he may have acquired it from the federal government, you should check for that record. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), General Land Office Records has a free online site for searching some of these records at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. You will [...]