Maps and Deeds: The Perfect Combination

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student I like maps.  No, I love maps.  It really is a bit of an odd thing, but through my research I discovered that maps can tell you a lot.  Then when you combine one with a record like a deed the results are beyond amazing.  Module 5 of the US Land Records course covers deeds and maps, and just how important alternative sources are to your research. Deeds are found in a wide range of places.  Estate records, mortgages, sales and leases are a few place you might find a deed.  But what is it?  Well primarily (because there are near a dozen different types of deeds) it is a document that shows who owns a piece of property.  This can be done through a bill of sale which records the transfer of ownership of property to a person.  Or a quitclaim where someone relinquishes their property to another but doesn’t guarantee that someone else doesn’t own a portion of it.  Or perhaps you could find a warranty deed which assures the purchaser that they are the sole owners. Okay, so deeds are cool right?  Bet you are now asking what they have to do with maps.  Well, deeds contain information on the land.  Its description, size, anything unique about it, even geological information.  Put the two together and you now have a whole new perspective on your family.

My Time at FGS2015

By Lynn Funk, Student Salt Lake City, Utah is considered by many to be the “Mecca for Genealogical Research” and it was never more so than this February 11-14 when the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) combined their conference with the annual RootsTech Conference. Over 22,000 people crowded into the Salt Palace to learn, share and enjoy speakers, workshops and exhibits about their shared passion—family history! My conference experience opened Wednesday night with a social featuring sandwiches and desserts and a panel discussion about Family History and Television. Participants included FGS president and Genealogy Roadshow host Joshua Taylor; Genealogy Roadshow host, genealogist and lawyer, Kenyatta Berry; George Ott from ProGenealogists; genetic genealogist CeCe Moore and Jennifer Utley from “Who Do You Think You Are?”  The panel discussed the impact shows such as Genealogy Roadshow, Finding Your Roots and Who Do You Think You Are?  have had on the growing interest in family history and genealogy. The next three days I attended sessions presented by both FGS and Rootstech, however most were FGS classes as they seemed to focus more on research methodology. In these classes I learned about cluster genealogy, resources for tracing U.S. ancestors between 1780-1840, using tax records to solve genealogical problems, and finding ancestors in between the censuses. One of my favorite classes was taught by Michael Lacopo and was entitled: She Came From Nowhere: A Case Study Approach to Solving a Difficult Genealogical Problem. Since I have several “difficult genealogical problems,” I found this class very helpful. It was fun to see how, step by step, he took down…

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Homestead Records

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Well we finally got the subject I really wanted to learn more about.  Yep, homestead records!  They are one of those little known record sets that make people want to *face palm* after they realize they should have looked there years ago. Thankfully for those of us who don’t know a lot about these records, our instructor spends a few pages on the history of homesteading.  I did not know that the pre-cursor to the Homestead Act of 1862 was the 1841 Preemption Act.  This act allowed people who were squatting on land prior to it being surveyed by the federal government  to purchase it from the government before it went up for public sale.  The act gave settlers the peace of mind that if they were on a piece of land before surveying was done they could eventually own the title to it. Alternatively, the Homestead Act allowed people to receive a piece of public land for free as long as they met certain criteria.  They had to: Be over 21 years of age, the head of the household, or a widow / deserted wife Own less than 160 acres of land Either a citizen of the U.S or have an official declaration filed to become a citizen Never fought again the U.S. or aided their enemies To keep the land they had to cultivate and improve it for 5 years

RootsTech 2015 Recap

By Lynn Funk, Student I always look forward to February. You may be asking yourself “why February?” Well, the holidays are over, the promise of spring is in the air and, at least here in Salt Lake City, it means the opening of the annual RootsTech Conference. This year’s conference was held February 11-14 and was combined with the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference which made it an even bigger and better conference than ever for family history enthusiasts. This was my third year attending the conference and as always it was an enjoyable experience. The theme this year was Celebrating Families Across Generations. Keynote speakers included Dennis Brimhall CEO of FamilySearch International; Mike Mallin, CPO MyHeritage; Tan Le, found of Emotiv; former First Lady, Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager; D. Joshua Taylor, Director of Family History at FindMyPast;  author A. J. Jacobs, and singer/entertainer Donny Osmond. All had fascinating stories to tell about their ancestors and what family and family history means to them. You can watch many of these addresses as well as some of the workshop presentations online at rootstech.org/video. RootsTech has something for everyone from workshops by top-notch genealogical lecturers to the latest innovations in technology that aid in researching, organizing and preserving your family history. There were several hundred classes to attend and an expo hall filled with everything from books to software to genealogical education and online storage. The International Institute for Genealogical Studies even had a booth there. I stopped by and had a wonderful conversation with…

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Why US Land Records ?

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Why should you use land records?  It’s a great question.  Do you have an answer?  In my intro post to the US Land Records course, I talked about why I like land records, but those are not the only reasons.  So, what makes them so special? I was very excited when our instructor, Kyle J. Betit, covered this topic in the first module.  His points were valid and if you are still not sure that you want to take a course about boring old land records hang on.  Simply, once you determine if your ancestor could have owned land your research will take off.  As with all government agencies there is a paper trail that follows land records. Let me share a few things you could uncover in those papers: Discover unknown family relationships Information on immigration and naturalization Social status in the community Migration pattern across the US Occupations That is an abbreviated list but I am sure you can see how this information can aid your research.  Particularly in places where vital records are non-existent and any information you discover is amazing.  However, you need to understand the process, the documents which were created, as well as what is still extant today.