I had a GREAT day of research thanks to the “Blizzard of 2011″ and I still have a day to go! I was concentrating on land records for John M. Smith in Russell County in the 1825 – 1835 time frame. Russell County was formed in Dec. of 1825 and John died in 1835, so I didn’t really think I’d find that much.
I decided to make a timeline with every tiny piece of information I could glean from the deeds that I have. I only have 2 deeds with John purchasing land, so I started with those.
Dec. 1825 – formation of Russell County (The area covered in these land records would have been Wayne County before this.)
4 Apr. 1827 – John M. Smith buys 100 acres from Lewis Faust of Wayne Co. John M. Smith “of Russell County” indicates to me that he already lives here.
- South side of the Cumberland River
- $800.
- “An ash on the River Bank, corner to a Military Survey of 1100 acres of which the aforesaid tract is a part.”
- This land borders Claudius Buster’s land.
- Eventually (1850) this land passes from John’s heirs to his son, Elias.
- Book A:132
20 Jan. 1835 – John M. Smith buys land from James and Elizabeth Gilbert of Spencer County.
- $1000
- 1 tract – 98 acres – Beaver Creek bottom
- This land borders Simon Stacy
- This land borders the 1827 land purchased by John M. Smith
- This land went from Lewis Faust to James Gilbert to John M. Smith
- 1 tract – 112 acres – in Russell County AND Wayne County
- This land is James’ Gilbert’s interest (1/2 of the land) patented to John M. Smith and James Gilbert dated 2 June 1829.
- Border’s William Patterson and Claudious Buster’s 50 acres.
- There is a road on the land from the mouth of Beaver Creek to Montecello (Wayne Co.)
- One corner is “Deanes corner”
- This land eventually (1850) is passed to Elias Smith.
- 1 tract – 88 acres – Russell County AND Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
- Neighbor – Timothy Burgess in the name of Thomas Harrison
- Neighbor – Pattersons and Busters
I didn’t think I would be able to gather much information from these, but they did bring some things into focus and they gave me a few questions to be answered. I put questions and notes of things to do into my list as well. Those are in red italics.
Dec. 1825 – formation of Russell County (The area covered in these land records would have been Wayne County before this.)
4 Apr. 1827 – John M. Smith buys 100 acres from Lewis Faust of Wayne Co. John M. Smith “of Russell County” indicates to me that he already lives here. (Check the Wayne County tax lists and land records. Supposedly, the Smith family arrived in Kentucky in 1802.)
- South side of the Cumberland River
- $800.
- “An ash on the River Bank, corner to a Military Survey of 1100 acres of which the aforesaid tract is a part.” (Who did this military survey belong to? Faust?)
- This land borders Claudius Buster’s land.
- Eventually (1850) this land passes from John’s heirs to his son, Elias.
- Book A:132
20 Jan. 1835 – John M. Smith buys land from James and Elizabeth Gilbert of Spencer County.
- $1000
- 1 tract – 98 acres – Beaver Creek bottom
- This land borders Simon Stacy
- This land borders the 1827 land purchased by John M. Smith
- This land went from Lewis Faust to James Gilbert to John M. Smith
- 1 tract – 112 acres – in Russell County AND Wayne County
- This land is James’ Gilbert’s interest (1/2 of the land) patented to John M. Smith and James Gilbert dated 2 June 1829. (Can I find this in the Jillson book? Research, why would 2 men have a patent together? If Gilbert and Smith earned a patent together, I should also follow Gilbert to see where he was before Russell County.)
- Border’s William Patterson and Claudious Buster’s 50 acres.
- There is a road on the land from the mouth of Beaver Creek to Montecello (Wayne County)
- One corner is “Deanes corner”
- This land eventually (1850) is passed to Elias Smith.
- 1 tract – 88 acres – Russell County AND Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek (See who else had land on Beaver Creek. Related?)
- Neighbor – Timothy Burgess in the name of Thomas Harrison
- Neighbor – Pattersons and Busters
Next, I added in information that I had gathered about Land Grants. All I have is the listing that there is a land grant. So far, I don’t have the actual records. The Kentucky Secretary of State has an excellent web site with scans of land records, but so far, the records in this series have not been scanned. Right now, I can’t afford to ask for copies, so I’ll have to wait. But I added the information and I expect that I’ll be able to figure out more about the land using clues from deeds.
Dec. 1825 – formation of Russell County (The area covered in these land records would have been Wayne County before this.
4 Apr. 1827 – John M. Smith buys 100 acres from Lewis Faust of Wayne Co. John M. Smith “of Russell County” indicates to me that he already lives here. (Check the Wayne County tax lists and land records. Supposedly, the Smith family arrived in Kentucky in 1802.)
- South side of the Cumberland River
- $800.
- “An ash on the River Bank, corner to a Military Survey of 1100 acres of which the aforesaid tract is a part.” (Who did this military survey belong to? Faust?)
- This land borders Claudius Buster’s land.
- Eventually (1850) this land passes from John’s heirs to his son, Elias.
- Book A:132
31 Dec. 1827 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book V:514
- 112 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Cumberland River
1 Jan. 1828 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book V:515
- 88 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
17 Nov. 1832 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book B2:296
- 81 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
4 Dec. 1832 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to George A. Smith (my George would be 25 yrs old, seems likely to be him since it’s the page after John)
- Book B2:297
- 56 acres
- Russell Co
- Beaver Creek
20 Jan. 1835 – John M. Smith buys land from James and Elizabeth Gilbert of Spencer County.
- $1000
- 1 tract – 98 acres – Beaver Creek bottom
- This land borders Simon Stacy
- This land borders the 1827 land purchased by John M. Smith
- This land went from Lewis Faust to James Gilbert to John M. Smith
- 1 tract – 112 acres – in Russell County AND Wayne County
- This land is James’ Gilbert’s interest (1/2 of the land) patented to John M. Smith and James Gilbert dated 2 June 1829. (Can I find this in the Jillson book? Research, why would 2 men have a patent together?)
- Border’s William Patterson and Claudious Buster’s 50 acres.
- There is a road on the land from the mouth of Beaver Creek to Montecello (Wayne County)
- One corner is “Deanes corner”
- This land eventually (1850) is passed to Elias Smith.
- 1 tract – 88 acres – Russell County AND Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
- Neighbor – Timothy Burgess in the name of Thomas Harrison
- Neighbor – Pattersons and Busters
Finally, I added in the information from the county tax records to see if the land totals correspond. The information from the tax records tells me that I need to look for additional deeds or other reasons that land may have switched hands.
Dec. 1825 – formation of Russell County (The area covered in these land records would have been Wayne County before this.
4 Apr. 1827 – John M. Smith buys 100 acres from Lewis Faust of Wayne Co. John M. Smith “of Russell County” indicates to me that he already lives here. (Check the Wayne County tax lists and land records. Supposedly, the Smith family arrived in Kentucky in 1802.)
- South side of the Cumberland River
- $800.
- “An ash on the River Bank, corner to a Military Survey of 1100 acres of which the aforesaid tract is a part.” (Who did this military survey belong to? Faust?)
- This land borders Claudius Buster’s land.
- Eventually (1850) this land passes from John’s heirs to his son, Elias.
- Book A:132
1827 – Russell County Tax Lists – 100 acres
31 Dec. 1827 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book V:514
- 112 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Cumberland River
1 Jan. 1828 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book V:515
- 88 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
1828 – Russell County Tax List – 200 acres (Could this be Dec. ’27 land + ’28? If so, where is the original 100 acres?)
1829 – Russell County Tax List – 200 acres
1831 – Russell County Tax List – 250 acres (Where did the extra 50 acres come from?)
17 Nov. 1832 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to John M. Smith
- Book B2:296
- 81 acres
- Russell and Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
4 Dec. 1832 – Kentucky Land Warrant (Jillson pg. 725) to George A. Smith (my George would be 25 yrs old, seems likely to be him since it’s the page after John)
- Book B2:297
- 56 acres
- Russell Co
- Beaver Creek
1833 – Russell County Tax List – 419 acres (250 + 81 + 56 = 387)
1834 – Russell County Tax List – 1200 acres (Need to find a deed with about 800 acres!)
20 Jan. 1835 – John M. Smith buys land from James and Elizabeth Gilbert of Spencer County.
- $1000
- 1 tract – 98 acres – Beaver Creek bottom
- This land borders Simon Stacy
- This land borders the 1827 land purchased by John M. Smith
- This land went from Lewis Faust to James Gilbert to John M. Smith
- 1 tract – 112 acres – in Russell County AND Wayne County
- This land is James’ Gilbert’s interest (1/2 of the land) patented to John M. Smith and James Gilbert dated 2 June 1829. (Can I find this in the Jillson book? Research, why would 2 men have a patent together?)
- Border’s William Patterson and Claudious Buster’s 50 acres.
- There is a road on the land from the mouth of Beaver Creek to Montecello (Wayne County)
- One corner is “Deanes corner”
- This land eventually (1850) is passed to Elias Smith.
- 1 tract – 88 acres – Russell County AND Wayne Co
- Beaver Creek
- Neighbor – Timothy Burgess in the name of Thomas Harrison
- Neighbor – Pattersons and Busters
1835 – Russell County Tax List (1 June) 556 acres (Check the tax list for the children to see if the land totals correspond?)
So, now I have a very clear idea of what I need to be looking for. Is it that important to find every deed or land transaction? I think so, because of relationships that could be mentioned. It’s a glimpse into the lifestyle of my ancestor. What does a man in 1830 do with 1200 acres? It can’t all be farm land, can it? I recall a lot of animals in the estate inventory. Time to pull that back out and look at it with a new eye. Plus, I’m just “type A” enough to be bothered by the missing information! Typing it out in a timeline has forced me to examine each piece of information carefully and has opened my eyes to further things to look for. That’s a good genealogy day – especially considering that it was an unexpected research day!
What will I discover today? I can tell you that I’ll be using Excel once again and plan to have a new idea for it’s use! Watch for that this week-end!
