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Lineage Luck: How Applying to Societies Helps Your Research

I underestimated the value of joining lineage societies until I completed an application for one. I didn't think my ancestors had been in the United States long enough to qualify for any, thinking ancestors would have had to be in the United States for centuries to qualify. I wasn't aware of the wide range of lineage societies available. But once I took that first bite of that lineage society apple—I was hooked. And I see many more benefits now.  First, joining a lineage society requires proper documentation , and not just for an individual's vital stats, like birth, marriage, and death, but also for the connections between those generations that form an unbroken line from the applicant to that specific ancestor or ancestral couple. Second, applying to a society might require acquiring new skills . This is certainly true for me. My very first application, to the First Families of Pennsylvania, required full citations for every fact stated. I had never learned how to do prop
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Martin Gilbride's Pennsylvania to Minnesota Migration


It was a pleasant surprise to discover that a Gilbride ancestor moved from Pennsylvania to Minnesota—ironically, a migration my husband and I also made in the early 1990s. 

Martin Gilbride, eldest son of my immigrant ancestors James Gilbride and Mary Hart Gilbride, left Pennsylvania about 1865 to take up residence in Elysian, Le Sueur County, Minnesota, near Round Lake. Jim and I left Tyrone, Pennsylvania, in 1993 to move to Winona, Minnesota, to take new jobs. Winona is about 123 miles from Elysian. Of course, I was unaware at the time of this family connection to Minnesota.1

Martin Gilbride purchased three parcels of land from Mrs. Nancy J. Manwaring in October 1865 for $1,000. I wondered if Mrs. Manwaring was the first property owner; she was the second.2

Using the land description in Martin's deed on the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office website, I was able to identify the original patentees of the land as Alfred Moler, Tusekiah, Henry, and Ipsoak-Oak-Hajo. 

According to the patent, Henry was the minor child of Ipsoak-Oak-Hajo, deceased Orderly Sargent of Captain Kotchar Matto's Company, Creek Volunteers, Creek War. Ipsoak-Oak-Hajo had received the land under the Scrip Warrant Act of 1855, which awarded 160 acres to veterans of various wars, including the Revolutionary War, various wars with—and removals of—Native American tribes, and other military actions. The warrant was assigned to Tusekiah, the guardian of Henry, and Tusekiah subsequently assigned the warrant to Alfred Moler.3

The original patent for Gilbride's land included info on relationships and the chain of assignees.

Then, using HistoryGeo First Landowners Project, I was able to view the parcels on a grid map, as well as on Google Maps. The entire three parcels in sections 20 and 29 of Township 109N-24W were sold whole both to Mrs. Manwaring and later to Martin Gilbride—the land descriptions and total acreage are identical.4

Alfred Moler originally owned three parcels near Round Lake in Le Sueur County, later owned by Martin Gilbride.

 

This location in section 29 was the likely location of Martin's house, mentioned in a family history near "Round Lake."

I coincidentally came across an unpublished family history manuscript titled "Rambles Through Our Family History," written by Mary D. Gilbride Fitzpatrick, Martin Gilbride's granddaughter. In it, she mentions that the Gilbrides "...took up homestead acres near Round Lake," a detail confirmed by the deeds and land ownership maps.5

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

 

A Researcher's Aside

The Bureau of Land Management patent search is freely accessible. HistoryGEO's First Landowner's Project can be accessed by subscription or through various libraries.

 

IMAGE: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr., Mitchell's New Reference Atlas for the Use of Colleges, Libraries, Families and Counting Houses (Philadelphia: E.H. Butler & Co., 1865), p. 16-17, "Minnesota and Dakota; image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~304410~90075044:Map-No--XVI--Minnesota-and-Dakota-- : accessed 8 June 2024).

 

NOTES

1 Wayne County, Pennsylvania, probate file 1401, James Gilbride (d. 1872); Register of Wills Office, Honesdale. James' will notes "...my oldest son Martin Gilbride."

2 Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Deed Records, Book I, p. 465, Alfred D. Moler & Nancy Moler to Nancy J. Manwaring, 13 October 1864; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3W9-N9K8-C : accessed 8 June 2024); citing county courthouse, Le Cente. Also, Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Deed Records, Book K, p. 155, Mrs. Nancy J. Manwaring to Martin Gilbride, 21 October 1865; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSV4-YSYK-P : accessed 22 May 2024); citing county courthouse, Le Center.

3 Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office, Patent Search for lot 2, sec. 29, Twp. 109N-24W, W1/2SW1/4, sec. 20, 109N-24W, and NE1/4SW1/4, sec. 20, 109N-24W, 5th PM, map and patent images; BLM GLO (https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0494-487&docClass=MW&sid=t4fvyvyf.jf2 : accessed 22 May 2024). Land description exactly matches that of the indenture between Mrs. Nancy J. Manwaring and Martin Gilbride, both of Le Sueur, on 21 October 1865. Also, National Archives and Records Administration, "Bounty Land Warrants for Military Service, 1885-1855," last revised December 2010; citing NARA, Washington, D.C.

4 HistoryGeo, First Landowners Project, map search results for Moler, Le Sueur, Minnesota (https://www-historygeo-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/v3/viewers/index.php?v=flo : accessed 7 June 2024).

5 Mary D. Fitzpatrick, "Rambles Through Our Family History," unpublished manuscript, 22 January 1976. Mary is my second cousin, four times removed (2C4R).




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  1. Tonya Graham McQuadeJune 16, 2024 at 12:37 PM

    Sounds like you made great use of land records! I haven't done much of that - I'll have to try some of the sites you mention. Thanks!

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseyAugust 18, 2024 at 10:44 AM

      Sorry I missed this comment earlier. I was late to the "land records" game, but they really are fabulous, and I've been able to pinpoint ancestors in specific places with them. Thanks for reading!

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