September 2000 Genealogy Forum News

Land Records: Ancestors and Their Neighbors

How many times during your research have you come across people with the same name? How does one move beyond this dilemma?

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Virginia Institute of Genealogical Research, sponsored by the Virginia Genealogical Society in Richmond, Virginia. Among the classes I attended were several on land platting, land records, deeds, patents, and grants.

Many of us have had the occasion to attend genealogical conferences, but how many of us have used the tools available to us that have been presented in those conferences and seminars?

There are a number of land records available to help us in our search, but the focus in this article will be on reconstructing your ancestor’s neighborhood.

What information can we obtain from a neighborhood? Constructing the neighborhood first tells us who our ancestors had as neighbors. Once we know who the neighbors were, we might find more information about our ancestor. His name might appear in the neighbor’s records, or in court records. Your ancestor may have been sued by his neighbor for encroaching upon his land, stealing one of his cows, etc. There may also be records of your ancestor buying and selling land from or to his neighbors.

In order to construct your ancestor’s neighborhood there are a number of preliminary steps to take.

First, you need to learn the vocabulary. Land records will not have much meaning for you unless you learn the definitions of the words used. Some examples are grants, patents, poles, escheat, deed of gift, dower, lease for life, warranty deed, lease and release. There are many more words used, but this sampling is merely an illustration as to why you need a good law dictionary, as well as genealogical dictionaries.

Next, familiarize yourself with the records available in the locale of your research. For example, look at the state and county land records available. They are often found in deed books and on microfilm. For many counties, deed abstracts are available. A word of caution, however, when using the abstracts. It has been my experience that there is often much information to be gleaned from deeds, not found in the index. Oftentimes, only the grantee/patentee, buyer or seller is mentioned in the index. Reading the book, page by page, can supply you with a wealth of information.

Once you have read the deed abstract books and found many citations of your ancestor and his neighbors, you can start formulating ideas about his neighborhood.

Your next step would be in learning land platting. Being a novice, and just having learned the basics, I would not begin to instruct others in the technique. My recommendation would be that you take a course, attend a seminar or a series of lectures by an expert.

Learning about the land can open many doors for you and your research.

My thanks to Mary McCampbell Bell, Barbara Vines Little, Eric Grundset, Robert Young Clay, Marty Hiatt, Marie Martin Murphy, Wesley Pippenger, Clyde Ratcliffe, Minor Wesiger and Peggy Joyner who taught me most of what I know about land records.

Suggested reading and resources:

Leary, Helen F. M. and Maurice R. Stirewalt, eds., North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History, Raleigh, N.C: The North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996 (Chapter 7, "Mapping", and Chapter 13,"Land Records") *regardless of where you research, this book is a valuable tool for everyone

Harris, Maurine and Glen, compilers, Concise Genealogical Dictionary. Salt Lake City, Utah, Ancestry 1989.

Drake, Paul, What Did They Mean By That? A Dictionary of Historical Terms for Genealogists, Bowie, MD, Heritage Books, 1998

Seminars by any certified genealogist on land records.

© 2000 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
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