Land! Ho!

Land records! Between the introduction of the full-text search of FamilySearch's U.S. Land Records Collection, and my recent study of these documents to narrow Joseph Becker's immigration window, it's been a good few months for land records in my research life.

One main benefit of the FamilySearch full-text search in land records is that it doesn't merely focus on the grantor and grantee as an index might. It also finds anyone else who might have been named in the document: witnesses, neighboring landowners, recording clerks, etc. 

I decided to do another search in this new tool. My ancestor Joseph Becker has been named in Wyoming County, New York, land transactions under both the Becker and Baker surname, so I searched under Joseph Baker. Wow! He is mentioned in so many Wyoming County deed records, not only as the grantor or grantee, but also as the owner or former owner of land bounding properties being sold to others. Before the advent of this tool, I would have had to do a page-by-page search of all land records created during the time he lived in Sheldon to discover him mentioned in this way.

And I made another discovery: In a deed between Caroline Emerick and Ferdinand Emerick, part of the land description includes that the parcel being sold was bounded, "...on the west by land owned and occupied by Joseph Baker..." Huh. This deed was written on 13 June 1868. Did I just further refine Joseph immigration window? Based on other land transactions, my most recent thought was that his immigration took place in 1866 or 1867. Now, it appears he may have been in Sheldon as late as June 1868 before his move to Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada.¹

The highlighted section in this deed shows that Joseph Baker was living on his Wyoming County land in 1868.

This deed also included the interesting fact that the parcel being sold was: "...the same premises which has for the last twenty years been in the possession of Ferdinand Emirick now deceased..." If I was Ferdinand's descendant, I would sure be interested in the fact that this deed shows he lived on this parcel since about 1848 and was deceased by June 1868. Talk about pinpointing someone in time and place!

It's important to note that land records don't include just land transactions; other transactions and important events were also recorded in these books. 

In another great example of what deeds can do, I found the ordination of the Hub's 4x great-grandfather Jesse E. Casey as a Baptist minister recorded in a Johnson County, Arkansas, deed book a few years ago. Using the FamilySearch full-text tool to search his name again, I came across another record of this kind, where as a presbyter, Jesse E. Casey witnessed the ordination of...who??? I could not read the handwriting in this deed, but not to worry. This full-text search tool also includes a rough transcription. It isn't always perfect, but it is sure a transcription jumpstart. In this case, the transcription noted the new minister's name was Reuben W Ellis. Yes, now I see it. This event was recorded in a Conway County, Arkansas, deed book, not where I would usually look for evidence of Jesse E. Casey, who owned land in Marion and Newton Counties, Arkansas.²

Jesse E. Casey participated in this ordination which was recorded in a deed book.

As of this writing, the tool can search the U.S. Land and Probate Records and Mexico Notary Records which are currently only available to browse. 

If you're a researcher and have not yet tried this new tool, I highly recommend it. 

To access the tool, you must have a free FamilySearch account. 

• If you need a tutorial on how to use the full-text search tool, check out this RootsTech video: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/unlock-the-power-of-full-text-searching-for-historical-records. 
• And here is a useful video on how to improve your keyword searches in the collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P00oMDsAsSw.

Land records are awesome! In deed!

Until next time... 

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

IMAGE: Edward Mitchell Bannister, The Road to the Valley, n.d., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Alan and Melvin Frank, 1983.95.146; image, A Home is Announced, Public Domain Print Shop (https://ahomeisannounced.com/public-domain-print-shop/ : accessed 14 April 2024).

NOTES

¹ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9WX-TR26 : accessed 14 April 2024), Wyoming > Deeds 1873-1879 vol 77-78 > image 274 of 512, Emerick to Emerick; citing county courthouse, Warsaw.

² Conway County, Arkansas, Deed Record, Book C, p. 64-65, ordination of Reuben W. Ellis; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTL-89K7-4 : accessed 14 April 2024).