A New Puzzle

This week, my library received the FHL films that I ordered for Kentucky Land Grants.  I had 4 specific grants to look at.  I thought they would be certificates of some kind and I probably wouldn’t get much information from them, but instead, they look like deeds with land descriptions and such.  Neat!  But they leave me with more questions than I had originally, probably because I still don’t completely understand how the land grants work.

Two of the land grants were given jointly to John M. Smith and James Gilbert.  I thought I might be able to find out if these men were related. Brother-in-law maybe.  It gives me no information like that.  But the pages do give me warrant numbers.

Now I need to research what I can do with these numbers. Can I tell if they were military warrants?  I guess I thought that’s what I WAS getting with this microfilm, so I’m confused. There are also many other names in here and after talking with my librarians, we believe it is almost like a provenance of the land warrant because of an abbreviation that looks like assee with the two ee’s like superscripts. 

They believe that means “assignee” so I’m going with that for now.  When I did a quick “google” of land patent assignee, it tells me it’s the same as the buyer.  (Feel free to comment with any corrections or further info!!)

The two grants are on consecutive pages in the book.  The first grant only mentions John M. Smith and James Gilbert.  But the second grant says: “there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto John M. Smith and James Gilbert assignee of said Smith who was assignee of Timothy Burgess assignee of Braxton Carter who was assignee of Elijah Hutchison a certain tract or parcel of land….”

So I interpret that to mean that Elijah Hutchison earned the original warrant. Braxton Carter purchased it and sold it to Timothy Burgess who sold it to John M. Smith who sold part of it to James Gilbert.  Does anyone know if I’m correct in this?

I have 2 warrant numbers within the document and a different warrant number in the margin.  Can I follow the land through these numbers? That’s what I’ll need to figure out next.

Time to learn more about the whole Land Grant system!  I have several different presentations on my computer about the process, and I thought I understood it pretty well, but now that I have actual information to follow up on, I can see that I need to watch those again with these specifics in hand.

Read Full Post »

A Wonderful Find – Now What?

I’m so excited about some discoveries I’ve made doing research with Google since Saturday!

I had read a story that one of my ancestors, along with his brothers, had a trading post in the Danville, Kentucky area around the time of Kentucky statehood and I wanted to try to confirm that.  The last ancestor that I have confirmed information on is John M. Smith from Russell County.  I know that John purchased land in 1827 (Russell County was formed in 1826) and also had two land grants around the same time.  I don’t know if John was in the area before his area became Russell County or where he might have come from before that.  I don’t know his wife’s name or his parents.

I’ve latched onto the Danville area trading post as the clue that’s going to move me back a generation.  But I have not been able to find anything helpful because there are too many Smiths in the county.  While doing a Google search for trading posts, I discovered that I should be Googling the term “Stations” instead of trading posts.  Then I came across a link that listed “Smith’s Station” located on the road from Danville to the mouth of Dick’s River.  Now I had a better idea of which part of Mercer County to be looking for the Smith’s in Mercer County.  Last night, I was THRILLED to find a map showing all of the pre-1800 Stations in Kentucky and there was Smith’s Station!  Another web site told me the 3 people who are attributed with beginning the station. Could these 3 names be John’s father and his brothers?

So I’m excited to get back to the library on Friday to see what I can find in the Mercer County history books and tax lists.  My hope has been to find that some of the people in John’s part of Russell County (witnesses, neighbors, etc) were also in the same area of Mercer County in the early 1800′s to help me confirm which John Smith in Mercer County could be my John Smith.

Read Full Post »

Smith Feast or Smith Famine!

I’m continuing on my search for information on John M. Smith (17?? – 1835). Here’s what I know:

• Russell County Kentucky was formed in Dec/Jan of 1825/26.
• John Smith “of Russell County” bought 100 acres in April 1827 and appears in the Russell County tax list for the first time.
• On Dec 31, 1827, John received a land grant along with James Gilbert for a total of 200 acres.  (If anyone knows why “joint” grants were given, I’d love to know! I’ve ordered the land grant films, but I’m impatient!)
• I have the tax listings for John every year through 1835 when he died.
• John’s land was partially in Russell County and partially in Wayne County.
• Two of John’s sons, George and Elias, also appear in the tax lists, giving me approximate dates of birth based on when they appear for the first time.
• In 1847, the “heirs of John M. Smith” sell all of their shares of land to their brother, Elias.  This deed mentions that the deceased Solomon Smith’s land was one-sixth of the estate. Based on this deed, I know the names of 5 children – George, Elias, Mary Jane, Elizabeth and Solomon.  Was the last sixth for their mother?

I’ve been trying to find where John M. Smith was before Russell County.  Was he in the same area, which was Wayne County before Russell County was formed?  Or did he immigrate from somewhere else?  I have one tiny clue in a great-grandson’s biography, but so far, I have not been able to confirm it. My “Smith Feast” is the fact that there are many John Smith’s in every county that I look at.  Obviously, because this is early 1800′s, I have no census records to see which John Smith might be my John Smith.  My “Smith Famine” is the fact that Solomon Smith does not appear in any tax lists or deeds other than the deed mentioned above.

I decided to look for clues in land and court records.  I currently have films of the first 3 court order books.  I began by using the index to look for records.  As I was scrolling through the film, I happened to stop on a page and John’s name popped out to me.  This was an “Ah-Ha” moment for me – the index didn’t include every mention of a name, only the names of those who initiated something in the court.  Back to the beginning of the film!  I began to read (ok, I skimmed) every page and found many things.

• John was a Justice of the Peace from 1830 till his death.
• John was quite often asked to survey the best location for new roads in his part of the county.
• John was the administrator of the estate of John B. Smith (another “famine” as I cannot find this name anywhere else!)
• John took in a “poor boy of the county”, John Asberry, who became his son’s apprentice after John died.

I had been focusing on locating anything with John’s name so I was concentrating on files before 1836, but yesterday, I began to skim Book 3 and found two “pleasant” surprises:

• Sept 1840 – George A. Smith (son of John) became the administrator for the estate of Solomon Smith.  Ah-ha!  A more specific date of death. Because Solomon never appears in the tax records, I am guessing that Solomon was not yet 21 at his death.
• Oct 1840 – Elias Smith (son of John) became the administrator for the estate of Benjamin Smith. There is more than one Benjamin Smith in Russell County, but I have never researched them because their ages and locations did not match my family.  I went back for a closer look and discovered that this Benjamin does appear in the tax lists, but only once.  In 1840, his is listed between Elias and George.  He owns no land, but does have a horse.  From this record, I am guessing that he had turned 21, and was therefore born around 1819. I believe this is the name for the final sixth of John’s estate!

I’m happy to have found these names and dates, but as usual, I have many more questions.  For my “feast” name – which John Smith is my John Smith? For my “famine” names – who was John’s wife?  I have yet to see her name anywhere, even in deeds.  Who was John B. Smith?  Was he related?  If so, how? Was he from Russell County?  If not, will this be the connection I need to show where John M. came from?  Where can I find more information on the “estates” of John M. Smith, John B. Smith, Solomon and Benjamin Smith?

Today, I will continue reading through Book 3 to see if there is more to glean. I’ve ordered and am greatly anticipating the films for the Kentucky Land Grants and Russell County deeds.  I’ve looked at the deed film before, but now I know that I can’t rely on the index.  And I found an online index that shows that there is an indenture that involves 3 of the siblings – including Benjamin – so I’m anxious to see what I’ll find next! Sadly, Spring Break begins just when I expect these films to arrive. So these mysteries will be swirling in my mind as I lay on the beach. How strange is it that I’m kinda wishing I didn’t have to go???

Read Full Post »

John M. Smith (AKA The Brick Wall)

I’ve been researching John M. Smith for years. YEARS! He definitely falls into my “Madness Monday” category!

Here’s what I know about John M. Smith

• I know that John was listed in the Russell County tax records from 1827 – 1835.
• I know that John was listed in the 1830 Russell County Census.
• In the census, John had in his home: 1 male aged 10-15, 4 males aged 20-30 and 1 male aged 50-60.  1 female aged 15-20, 1 female aged 20-30 and 1 female aged 50-60.
• If I assume that all of the younger people in this census are children, then the oldest would have been born around 1800.
• I know that John’s estate inventory was submitted to court in October 1835.
• Based on land records, I know that John had 5 children, 4 of which I can follow:

1. Sarah Smith who married Henry Payne and died before 1845. She is married before 1830, so she is not included in John’s census.
2. George A. Smith 1805-1890 (these dates are on his tombstone.  This is my ancestor.)
3. Elias Smith abt. 1810-1853
4. Jane Smith abt 1813 – 1880.  She married Thomas Simpson in 1838.
5. Solomon Smith – the only thing I know about Solomon is that he received some of John’s land after he died, but he was listed as deceased by 1842 in another deed. George and Elias submitted John’s inventory and took over his tax listings, so I assume Solomon was not the oldest son.

Last week, we had three days of no school due to icy weather so I decided to follow up this little clue that I had found.  In a published biography for one of John’s great-grandsons, there was a line that stated that the great-grandfather (John) was an early settler of Danville, Kentucky.  I had a note tucked away in my files that on another genealogy site, another great-grandson had a descendant who stated that he was told that one of John’s sons was born in Virginia and came to Kentucky with his parents and settled near Danville where his father (John) and brothers (John’s brothers?) operated a trading post. The printed biography corroborated the location in the story I’d read so I thought, Yeah!  Something new to research!

Danville is right on the boundary between Mercer and Lincoln County.  And of course, John Smith is a rather common name so I thought it might be best to start with what I could find in Danville itself.

In the book, “Early Days of Danville”, there was a John M. Smith mentioned for the formation of a Baptist church, but how can I know if this is MY John Smith?  I can find mentions of “John Smith” in other Danville books, but nothing that I’d call “proof”.  I was hoping to find a John Smith mentioned in regards to a trading post since that would be the only way I can think of to feel pretty sure I was on the right track. However, I see information on alot of John Smith’s with a middle initial and I’ve never seen more than 1 John M. Smith, so I did make a copy of this page.

I decided to try a different tactic.  I know that John M. Smith shows up in the Russell County tax records in 1827.  Was there a John Smith in Mercer County tax lists that disappeared about the same time?  The first bio I had read stated that John’s son had followed in the footsteps of his father and “became a planter whose broad acres were tilled by slave labor”. The Mercer County tax lists show about 3 different John Smiths in the time frame I’m looking for, but 2 of them had no land.  The other had 450 acres and several slaves. I followed the tax records from 1811 to 1828.  This John Smith disappeared from the tax records in Mercer county after 1824.  If my ancestor had an uncommon name, I’d be excited by this information, but with the name John Smith?  I could probably find a John Smith in just about every county in Kentucky!

Maybe I would find a lightbulb moment with the census records.  My biggest challenge is that John Smith died in 1835, so that means I can’t use the children’s information to tell one John from another.  And all of the known children of John came of age in Russell County, so I don’t expect to find their names anywhere else. I made a chart – in Excel of course – to help me compare the different Johns and I can say which ones I think are most likely, but I keep coming back to the fact that there are probably John Smiths in every county and there would probably be several that COULD fit the information that I have, so it’s purely a wishful, barely educated guessing process.

I also found a newspaper online from Mercer County in 1804 in which a Lincoln County man lived “six miles south of Danville”.  That reminded me that I have to consider Lincoln County as well to cover all of the Danville area.

I think my next step is going to have to be land records for Mercer County.  I ordered them on Saturday. I’m not holding my breath for a deed that says “John M. Smith, who is moving to Russell County, now sells this land to so and so…” so again, how will I know for sure?

I’m also looking at records at the Allen County Public Library for Wayne County, Kentucky.  John’s land was partly in Russell and partly in Wayne, and Russell County was formed in 1826 so perhaps the clue will be in Wayne Co. I’ve searched the tax records for a John Smith with land entered in the same name as the land listed in the Russell County tax lists – so far, no luck.  Just before leaving the library Saturday, I also found 2 books of records for early Mercer County – court orders and marriages.  It’s at the top of my list to look at next Saturday (or next school snow day, whichever comes first!)

So right now, my strategy is to collect and collect and collect.  Anything that seems likely based on locations and dates.  Keeping track of witnesses and neighbors and such and then hopefully, when the land records film does arrive, maybe something will click.

Read Full Post »

Gleanings from the Land Records

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!

Read Full Post »

From Deed to Map

To begin to draw a map of your ancestor’s land similar to the sketches made by the surveyors, you first need to understand the “code”.

Let’s use an example:  S 30 E 74 poles.  There are 3 pieces of information here.

1. The 2 letters indicate the direction.  In this example, we will be measuring a line SE from a location.  If only 1 letter is given, then the direction is directly North, South, East or West.  For example:  E 17 poles will be a line drawn directly east.
2. The number between the 2 letters indicates a number of degrees.  So we will be drawing a line that is 30^o in the SE direction.
3. The final number gives the length.  74 poles.

1 pole represents 16.5 feet, but for easy measuring, I made 1 pole equal to 1 mm on my ruler. (Millimeters are the tiniest marks on the metric ruler.  The numbers are for centimeters.)

When measuring the direction of your line, it is important to know that there are 2 locations for zero degrees – directly North and directly South. As you move toward the East or the West, the numbers get larger until you reach 90^o.

You can measure your degrees with a regular protractor from the school supply section of your local store.  Measuring is much easier if you have a round protractor, which you can pick up at most office supply stores, but even those can be confusing because they are made to measure a full 360^o going clockwise OR counterclockwise, so there are 2 different scales and you must be sure to use the correct one.

Because textbooks don’t lie flat, I’ve always made copies of the circular protractors on flexible, overhead transparency material that my students cut out and use to measure bearings in Geometry class. Because they are transparent, it’s easier to make sure you are lining things up correctly. So I used PhotoShop to create my own “surveying compass” that had only the necessary compass readings for the metes and bounds and I plan to copy it onto transparency material.  You can use the paper version as long as you hole punch the center of the  to make sure that the point you are measuring from lines up correctly. Since most people won’t have access to overhead projector film, I’ll make my illustrations with the paper version.

To draw  your map:

1. It would be nice if every surveyor measured the property in a clockwise direction starting in the NE corner, or something like that, but they didn’t.  Until you get the hang of reading these codes, it can be difficult to know where to begin on your sheet of paper.  All I can say is that eventually, you’ll be able to read through the measurements and make a super quick sketch to at least see which direction they moved while measuring.
2. Choose a point to begin your map.  You map will be similar to a dot-to-dot diagram, but you will not know where the next dot belongs until you draw a line.
   
3. Lay the protractor center on the dot that will be your beginning.  Make sure that “N” is pointed straight up.  (Using graph paper makes this much easier.)
4. Use the letters in “the code” to know which quarter of the protractor you’ll be using.  Make a small mark that lines up with the number of degrees which appears between the 2 letters.
   
5. Using the metric side of your ruler, line up the 2 dots that you have made.  Measure from the original dot the number of millimeters that appears at the end of “the code”. (You can barely see my little pencil mark across from the #4 on the ruler in the next photo.) I write the code along this line so I can make sure I don’t skip any.
   
6. The end of your line becomes the dot that goes in the middle of your compass for the next section of your boundary description.
   
7. Continue around until you get back to the beginning.
   

MOST of the maps that I’ve completed with this method have come right back to the original dot that I had made.  But on a couple of them, they do not.  I have to believe that dragging chains up and down hills and around trees had to make these surveys less than perfect and after double checking my measurements, I chose to fudge my drawings just a bit when this happens to make them align – but I make a note that I’ve done that.

As I go through the deed, I also add information like owners of neighboring properties or landmarks that could still be around today – like river banks or creeks.  Those creeks are what have allowed me to pinpoint my ancestor’s location on maps.  I can also convert those poles into feet or miles to help me have a better idea of the size of my ancestor’s property.

After I complete the graph paper version, I cut it out and transfer it to cardstock and write all of the information that I know about the piece of property.

As I’m working my way through various deeds, I’m discovering neighbors and even can see a pattern of how my ancestor expanded his property. For example, after completing my maps from two different deeds, I found that the pieces of land were connected to each other.  Something I never would have figured out without paying attention to the details found in that frustrating metes and bounds code!

If you are researching in Kentucky and are looking for some highly detailed county maps, this web site has great maps from 1950 and 1999.

http://ukcc.uky.edu/maps/

My husband says you have to be a real math geek to spend a Saturday afternoon with a protractor drawing maps like this, but I’ll let you be the judge of that!

BONUS!  If you’ve stuck with me through this entire post, I have a gift for you! If you send me a SASE, I’ll mail you my compass printed on overhead material and I’ll even cut it out with my circle cutter!  Email me at lvonlanken [at] msn [dot] com and I’ll send you my snail mail addy! When I print my own compass tomorrow, I’ll print several overheads with 6 to a sheet so I’ll have plenty to share!

Read Full Post »

Those Ridiculous Deed Measurements

…are really pretty darn cool!  In the past, when I would start to read through a deed, my brain would go something like this:

“This indenture made this 4 April 1927 between Lewis Faust of Wayne County, KY. of the one part & John M. Smith of Russell Co., Ky of the other part. Witnesseth blah, blah…Lewis Faust…blah, blah…$800.00…blah, blah…John M. Smith, his heirs & assigns forever…giant list of blahs as the description continued with a list of trees and bushes with confusing directions here and there…Lewis Faust together with Rebecca, his wife…blah, blah.”

And for me, that was plenty.  I had 2 names, I knew the county and I knew the number of acres and amount of money and at least 1 wife’s name. SCORE!

BUT….as I started working on “the book” the other day, I thought about how I might be able to describe the land they lived on, so I went to take another look at those pesky deeds.  I wondered if my guy had inherited his land from his father or not, but how could I tell that?  I wondered if the land was on the side of a mountain or near a river or what, but how could I tell that?  I decided that maybe, that crazy secret code to describe the land just might be helpful.

So I’ll save my findings for another blog post, but what I really want to write about is how I figured out an easy way to draw an outline of my ancestor’s land. And luckily, because Russell County is COVERED with creeks and river forks, I was able to find EXACTLY where the land was!

Now I’ll admit, being a Geometry teacher for many years helped a great deal, but I think anyone can do this.  And I even created a special, simplified tool to help me interpret “the code” and I’ll share that as well!  But to write out the steps in a logical order is not something I want to rush through, so for this post, I’m going to give you a link to the web site that helped me to figure this out.

http://www.directlinesoftware.com/metes.htm

My next post will be a step-by-step guide to using my tool to draw your own map.  All you’ll need is the tool (I need a name for this thing!) and a ruler with mm markings and paper.  Oh yeah, and a deed! (If your deed has numbers over 100, you’ll want a large sheet of paper or a few sheets of paper you can tape together.)

Hoping to post this evening.  Maybe this has piqued your interest?  Go find a good metes and bounds deed and a ruler and meet me back here tonight! (Update – teenager plans have over-ridden mine!  I’ll be posting tomorrow instead. – See you then!)

Read Full Post »

A Tool to UnTangle?

I’ve been reading my latest issue of Family Tree magazine and I was very interested to see an article called “Finding Mr. Right” on how to single out YOUR ancestor when there are several people with the same name in the area.  As you know, I have William Stephens coming out of my ears in my family line!  And that name certainly isn’t the only mega-popular name in the Russell County area, so I was interested to see what they had to say.  It was a very informative article and many of the things that they discussed are things that I already do, but one area that I have been VERY poor in doing is to pay attention to the witnesses and neighbors that are mentioned in all of the records that I collect.

They had a great chart (I see Excel!!) on page 45 that I plan to start working on, but in a nutshell, they were taking land deeds for a couple of men with the same name and making note of the date, seller, buyer, neighbors, witnesses and other info gleaned from the document.  By looking at the names of the neighbors and witnesses, you’d probably start to see other familiar names that would help you single out which man is the man you’re look for.  Brilliant!  When I saw the column with the neighbors, I immediately thought about how that list could compare with neighbors in the census records.  Wouldn’t I be seeing these same names in the census pages around my ancestor?  Or how about bondsmen and sureties in other records? And what could I find if I began to research THOSE names?  Perhaps I’d be finding husbands of daughters or sisters that have blank boxes in my group sheets. (You KNOW how I hate blank boxes in my forms!)

So I think I’m going to create another sheet for my Genealogy Planner so I can have this information with me and anytime I’m looking at a new set of records, to think about looking for these names as well.  Maybe I’ll get it ready to be posted by Wednesday, if I can just keep focused and not run off on some tangent when I pull out those deeds!

Read Full Post »

Deed Work – B’s Part 16

1861	Ballenger, Berryman	Ballenger, Daniel	G-527
1861	Ballenger, John	Ballenger, Daniel	G-528
1861	Ballenger, John	Ballenger, Daniel	G-529
1860	Ballenger, Joseph	Ballenger, Daniel	G-548
1861	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, W.W. & c	G-552
1860	Bernard, W.W.	Barnard, John I.	H-5
1860	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, W.W.	H-7
1862	Ballenger, John	Carnes, Falton	H-9
1860	Blaky, John P.	Helm, Bartholomew & c	H-11
1862	Bishop, Sally Ann	Price, Zachariah	H-18
1862	Bowmer, James W.	Bowmer, Rebecca	H-26
1861	Bledsoe, John H.	Coffey, Humphry	H-35
1862	Barger, James	Melson, James J.	H-43
1862	Barnes, William	Herriford, George W. & c	H-47
1860	Bradshaw, Sarah C.	Humphrey, David C. & c	H-69
1863	Barger, Jonah	Lesenby, James M. & c	H-77
1861	Brown, John	Coffey, Andrew & c	H-78
1863	Baugh, Simeon S.	Bryan, George & c	H-82
1862	Bernard, Peter	Smith, Reubin B. & c	H-84
1861	Blankenship, George W.	Jackman, Thomas & c	H-100
1863	Blair, Calbut	Coffey, Cleveland P. & c	H-116
1863	Bradshaw, William L.	Bradshaw, Elijah	H-117
1863	Blankenship, Joel	Herriford, George W. & c	H-119
1863	Butcher, Levi P.	Gosser, William H. & c	H-131
1864	Blankenship, Hudson	Wilderson, Jesse & c	H-145
1863	Ballenger, Joseph	McClure, Nathan & c	H-160
1864	Warriner, Blair	Blair, Colbert & c	H-167
1865	Bramlett, Thomas E.	Morthup, James	H-194
1865	Bramlett, Thomas E.	Gabbeart, W.G.	H-195
1865	Bayle, J.T. & c	Fox, Francis M.	H-198
1865	Buckner, Richard A.	Chumbley, William	H-200
1865	Buckner, Richard A.	Hopper, William	H-204
1865	Buchner, Richard A.	Warriner, Samuel & c	H-205
1864	Bledsoe, J.H.	Carter, J.L. & c	H-227
1864	Blair, Elitle	Blair, Colbert & c	H-239
1865	Bailey, John	Wilson, Benjamin	H-244
1865	Bryan, George	Miller, J.P. Sheriff	H-285
1865	Boyle & Co.	Dunbar, James Sr.	H-295
1863	Brown, Jacob	McGowan, Andrew	H-311
1865	Blankenship, Hudson	Blankenship, Cornelius	H-316

Read Full Post »

Deed Work – B’s part 15

These are the B’s from the Russell County Deeds Cross Index.  At times, the page numbers cannot be seen on the microfilms.  In that case, the book only is listed.

 

1858	Buster, William L. & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Burris, Mary Jane	Harmon, William	G
1858	Bowlin, John C.	Miller, Madison	G
1858	Buster, William & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Buster, William L. & c	Branham, Barnabus & c	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Gosser, Harrison	G
1857	Bryan, George	Wells,m Wilham	G
1859	Brown, George W.	Coffey, Andrew	G
1859	Blair, James Sr.	Blair, Morgan	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Coffey, Humphrey	G
1859	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1857	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1856	Bradley, Polly & c	Irvin Matildia & c	G
1859	Bebee, Allen & c	Holt, Berryman	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Bradshaw, F.M.	G
1859	Bolin, Lucinda	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bolin, Prudence J.	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bybee, Allen	Melson, James J.	G
1859	Beck, Aajon	Snow, John W.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Moore, George W.	G
1859	Bolin, John C.	Bernard, John I. & c	G
1859	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Wooldridge, James	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Bernard, John & Coffey, Albert G.	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah	Bradshaw, John C.	G
1855	Blankenship, Jess	Blankenship, David	G
1859	Bernard, John I. & c	Bernard, Harriet S.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	McFalls, Lindsey	G
1859	Bolin, John E.	Wade, Seth	G
1856	Bernard, William W.	Love, William T.	G
1857	Bryan, George conv.	Gran, Wm. M.	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Sanders, Olivia	G
1860	Bernard, Peter	Smith, Reubin B.	G
1855	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Cook, Edward	G
1868	Bolin, Benjamin P. & c	Bolin, John C.	G
1858	Bernard, John I. & c	Nelson, William	G
1860	Blair, Morgan	School Districe no. 25	G
1860	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Scott, Elizabeth	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1860	Buster, W.B. & c	Long, Edward	G

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »