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Timeless Territories: A column about incorporating land and property records in our family histories.
Land records are an underutilized genealogical resource. Yet they can be one of the richest sources of information to help move our research forward and enrich the stories of our family. Join Michelle Goodrum each month as we discover the different types of land records, where they can be found, how we can access, understand and utilize them in our genealogical and family history journey. Whether you have used land records before or not, join us in learning about land and property.
Watch for Timeless Territories to begin in our June issue.
Land records are definitely neglected on my part. I know about all the great information in them, but I haven’t done much with them because they seem difficult to access without traveling across the country or spending a lot of money. (I know this is probably a bone-headed view of their difficulty and the problem is I just don’t know HOW to access them.)
Thus, I am looking forward to your posts and learning to utilize this resource better.
I totally agree with Chuck’s comment above! I’ve barely used Land Records in my research. I know I should. I know I’d uncover great info but need to learn how to do that. I’m excited to get the instruction I need.
So I look forward to Michelle’s column too! I know I’ll learn a lot!
Have to say, other than attaching ‘land records’ in my ancestry tree I really haven’t delved into this aspect of research.
Now that I’m at a serious sticking point on a couple of ancestors, maybe a better understanding of these records could help jumpstart deadend lines.
Looking forward to reading more.
Rorey,
It seems that there are many of us out there wanting to take that step into land records. Personally, I have a few that I need to transcribe which have my family selling property to a son and then the son selling back to the Mom.
Thanks for reading!
Terri
So glad to hear of the interest in land records!
Chuck and Cindy, Land records aren’t always difficult to access or expensive (although sometimes they can be) so I’ll try to look for and point out “easy” and “cheap” where I can. Those are two words I think we can all relate to.
Rorey, You are absolutely right that land records might help jumpstart some dead end lines.