Land Records
One of the most overlooked methods of tracing our ancestors and determining their true identities is the use of land records. These include:
- deeds & mortages
- tax digests
- wills & probate records
- maps, track books & surveys
- military warrants
- court records
- state & federal patents
Even with the use of the above mentioned records, you still may not be able to properly place a person's real estate at a given time. Deeds and patents may be filed years after they were executed causing deed searches well beyond a time frame that seems reasonable. In a difficult situation the deeds for an entire neighborhood may have to be reviewed and platted to determine the location of a tract that contains little reference information such as the owners of surrounding parcels or landmarks like as creeks or roads. The date on federal patents are normally not the dates that the land was purchased on. And they were not always processed in a timely fashion. In fact, clerks were authorized during Andrew Jackson's administration to sign his name because of a backlog of 20,000 federal patents that needed his signature.
Locally, the land transaction was usually recorded at the courthouse, but it may have taken several years before a family member felt it necessary to record a deed that involved kindred or a close neighbor. State-land states had differing processes that were followed to acquire land by warrant. This process normally included the application, the warrant, the survey and finally the granting of the patent. These documents may be located on the state level, rather than the local or federal level. Conversely, some federal documents are located in state archives.
Tax digests, if available, can provide information not only on the ancestor's location, but may provide the age of his sons through records the poll tax they paid when they reached the age of majority.
Wills, probate records, bonds—any court record may hold the key to land ownership.
Beyond understanding the land description and the terminology of the document you hold, knowledge of the land's location is basic. This can sometimes be the one determining factor in a 'the names the same' case.
ANCESTRAL ANALYSIS recommends the list that Fred Smoot created for the TNGenWeb Genealogy Website that covers a full range of terms used in Southern land records. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has a FAQ section to help with questions about the federal land system. Ancestral Analysis can provide platted topographical maps for either system, please see the Platting Services page for more information