Are You Using Land Records?

Are you using land records? Why not? Because you find them dry and boring? Well there can be a lot of information you can find from land records. They can help you place your ancestor in a time and place. You might be able to connect your ancestor to his family and neighbors. You might even find the place from where he came.

Susan Bankhead, M.A., CG writes a wonderful blog called "Brick Wall Genealogist." This week her blog post "Challenge #11: Drill Into Land Records" really has some good thinking points about land records.

I found a deed of my great-great grandfather, George W. Lancaster and his wife, Mattie, selling land in Arizona Territory.

Deeds, Maricopa County, Arizona Territory, 1889, p 32,
Lancaster-Coulson, FHL film 2196859

My question was, how did he acquire this land? There was no record of the land purchase in the Maricopa County deed index. Where was this land located? Who was Mary E. Coulson? All good questions to ask.

The best way to learn the most from a record is to transcribe it. As you transcribe it, jot down any questions that come to your mind that you want to know more about or ideas about where else you could conduct research.

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