Deeds - a Top Family Search Secret - How to Use Them in Genealogy Research

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Күн бұрын

I solve a lot of my genealogy client’s research questions with deeds and land records as they can provide relationship information which is particularly helpful in pre-1850 family history research. Instagram: ancestrybyaimee Facebook: @aimeecross2
Are you looking for parents of an ancestor? Deed records are crucial in genealogy research and often overlooked. They are particularly helpful when researching the 1700’s and early 1800’s, basically determining ancestors pre-1850 when censuses began indicating family relationships by naming all individuals in a household. Deeds are written documents filed with the court transferring ownership of property from one person to another but deed books sometimes include other types of legal records such as a power of attorney, marriage bonds, guardianship, part of a probate and mortgages. Deeds help you discover family relationships, family locations and previous residences and break through brick walls.
FamilySearch is my favorite go-to place to find deeds so I’ve included details on how to find them as well as how to read deed indexes as they vary and can cause problems for users.
Pre-1850’s Strategies with Connie Knox of GenealogyTV • Pre 1850 U.S. Genealog...
Pre-1850’s Strategies Playlist • Pre-1850's Genealogy R...
My video of Probate Records • How to Find Wills and ...
Judy Russell’s Article - Consideration of $1 www.legalgenealogist.com/2013...
Ancestry Land Records Database www.ancestry.com/search/categ...
Find me at ancestryconsultingbyaimee.com
0:00 Intro
0:18 Pre-1850 Strategies with Genealogy TV
1:22 Why deeds?
1:53 Deeds provide specific residences and can also provide previous and subsequent residences
2:43 Deeds can provide relationships
3:05 Deeds can provide name of wife
3:23 Common Law v Civil Law in deeds
6:02 Deeds can provide slave information
6:29 Other clues including military service and land grants
7:49 Mortgages
8:08 Where to find deeds
9:24 Deeds at FamilySearch
9:35 Google searching deeds
9:58 Deeds at Ancestry
11:34 Finding deeds at FamilySearch
12:55 Locked images at FamilySearch
13:44 General Indexes
15:33 Navigating through the images
16:15 Finding the deed
18:21 Land descriptions
19:00 Grantor and grantee indexes
20:28 Direct and indirect indexes
21:42 Sub indexes
24:18 Other index types
25:05 The confusing Russell Index System
27:47 Examples of deeds which show relationships
31:06 Closing summary
#FamilyHistory #Genealogy #Ancestry #GenealogyTV #DeedResearch
Music "Something Elated" by Broke for Free.
freemusicarchive.org/music/Br...

Пікірлер: 62

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

Here's a companion video for probate records - these both will help you with your pre-1850 research. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Zsllp9V7vrC4qYU.html

@MrHarryreed Жыл бұрын

Another top-notch video! You are teaching this old dog new tricks! thanks so much.😊

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

@@MrHarryreed thank you!

@MrHarryreed Жыл бұрын

Well, I did it! I took a dive into deeds this evening. I can't believe all the information I came across while reading the records. Using Family Search was very easy and quite simple to download the photocopied records. I found 17 deeds in three counties in about an hour and a half. Thanks for telling us about this often-overlooked document.

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

You made my day!

@mttaylor129 Жыл бұрын

This video showed up EXACTLY when I needed it. AND I’ve spent the past week in Amherst and Albemarle, VA, marriage records. I’m realizing once again that I need to research land and probate records, and, as usual, a cloud of confusion and inadequacy overcame me. But this video makes me feel empowered and, maybe, even confident. You are a erasure, Aimee. You know the tools and also how to explain clearly and logically how to use them. Thank you!

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

Thank you Mary!! I’m so glad this helped you!

@mollyhenderson8741 Жыл бұрын

Thank yo so much. This and the video on probate records have been so helpful. I am researching ancestors in North Carolina and farmers all over including in New York, Missouri, and Ohio, and I have known for a long time that land records could be key to finding answers to my research, but I had no idea where to begin. Thank you. I can't wait to see what I will find!

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

Yeah! Glad this helped! Good luck!🤞

@edgewaterz Жыл бұрын

That last segment at 29 minutes where you find names and relationships in Deeds is what I struggle with the most with my people in Kentucky in the early 1800s. I have so many references in Deeds stating people's names, all with variant spellings of their family names. And I have two family surname brick walls and it feels like a mess. After watching this I think I have been hoping to find one document that spells it all out and ties them all together. But I think I will review them to see if I can map them out again on paper who is who one deed clue at a time. Thanks for your videos!

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

Glad it’s helped! Good luck. It can be so confusing. It’s sometimes hard to keep it all straight!

@roberthowe321 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, this was very helpful. I have found some of my ancestors deeds in the past by kind of a trial and error method. Now I understand the record filing and search procedure better. I have been researching my Newcomb family properties. They moved to Greenwich / Enfield, Mass area about 1787 and the properties had been in the family until the 1930's when it was taken by the state to create the Quabbin Reservoir for Boston. David Newcomb built the Enfield Congregational church building in about 1787. I have walked the former Newcomb property that is still above water and found the home's cellar hole. The state took photos of all the buildings and farms in the 4 towns before they were torn down, and photos of all the cemetery stones that were moved. The state also drew maps of all the property that was taken. It is all available from the visitors center. It was very sad for the people that moved out, but at least the history has been well documented. On a happier note, Quabbin is a wonderful wildlife area for hiking, animals, and fishing. I enjoy visiting the area.

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

I’m so glad this is helpful! What a history! I agree, sad they had to move but nice to have all that information!

@sharontabor7718 Жыл бұрын

Many people don't realize the importance of looking for the names of waterways in deeds. The location of the waterway mentioned in the deeds can determine which person of one of many with the same name could be the correct person. Ex: In Pittsylvania Co VA in the later 1700s were 5 men with the same name., John Kirby/Curby/Kerby. Sorting the deed by waterway and by neighbor can be important - especially if the men were relatives of each other.

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

So true! Thanks for sharing that Sharon!

@annjaber64 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video. This has helped me so much in my genealogical research. I have found that deeds and wills are the most valuable information for pre-1850 research.

@AncestryAimee 9 ай бұрын

You’re welcome. And I agree!!!

@GenealogyGrandmother 9 ай бұрын

WOW! That was packed full of useful information! It's 9pm and I just want to stay up all night and research deeds! Thank you, so much I did not know. 🥰

@AncestryAimee 9 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

@latheresedeeds2620 2 жыл бұрын

This makes a lot of sense now thank you for this video

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

You’re welcome!!

@DianaWilson 2 жыл бұрын

Another fantastic and informative video. I am excited to get started with deeds.

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@andreadavis9273 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic video, Very informative! So glad I saw your episode with Connie Knox and was able to follow you here. :)

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! So glad to have you join the channel!!!

@Thankful_. 4 ай бұрын

This was a very informative video! I’m the Deputy Recorder in a small county in Indiana. We have public computers for people to come do their own online searchers. 😊

@AncestryAimee 4 ай бұрын

That’s wonderful!

@70CloneJT 2 жыл бұрын

The BLM website has a lot of grant type records with original land surveys that are very helpful. I was able to establish family relationships through these records by location. This is really good info thanks.

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! And thank you for the comment. I love the BLM website for land grants! Sometimes people have trouble finding the website to search. It’s glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx

@briansmith9439 11 ай бұрын

I found it helpful to not just locate a deed but to keep track of all the various parcels bought and sold. In this way, I have found a lot of information otherwise unknown. For example, one ancestral couple sold a 4-acre parcel that was not accounted for through their purchases. I had to spend some time going through the county deed indices before I finally located the 4-acre parcel. I did not have the wife's surname so by going through the deeds for a 4-acre parcel being transferred to someone with the name Mary. I found it and the parcel turned out to be one of a series of deeds of Joseph to his 4 daughters, one of whom was my Mary. Now I had her surname and her father's name. I would have not found there was a deed missing without keeping track of the acres bought and sold. One other point about the recording date: it was only necessary to record a deed (at least in NJ) when that property was being sold by the person who bought it. Person A buys 50 acres in 1780 and sold it in 1830 to Person B. Person A died in 1832. Person B sold the land in 1860 - it is at this point the deed of purchase for 1830 has to be recorded. So the deed dated 1830 between A & B was recorded in 1860 - 28 years after the death of A, the original owner. It appears in the 1860 index, not the 1830 index.

@AncestryAimee 11 ай бұрын

Excellent additions. Thank you for taking the time to include your comment.

@feliciagaffney1998 11 ай бұрын

More deed success! I used deeds (now that I know what I'm doing with them) to find the father of a lady who, of course, isn't going to show up in the 1840 Census. She is in her mother's household in 1850, and neither Ancestry nor Family Search had any possible leads as to who these ladies were or the rest of their relations. I know what county they were in, and went to the Deed index at the county to find some men who would have been in the right general age range for land purchases. Gave me some names to explore, and I found the rest of the family these women belonged to, and the daughter was even mentioned in the will of her father, which I found on Ancestry. 🥳

@AncestryAimee 11 ай бұрын

Yeah! That’s wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing your success!

@feliciagaffney1998 Жыл бұрын

I'm just getting into deeds. Just started this past week. I'm actually finding a lot of great info which supports Census, like when they were moving from town to town or between counties. So, one of the Census pages I've had for decades, my current target was in one county in 1850. I feel like he should have been there in 1840, as well, but have had to resort to going page by page... But, in searching for what I was hoping was a deed in the 1830-40's... this county... the index for these early years are TOTALLY messed up, and NOTHING like the county next to it which I've been searching in. And even more different from what you have as examples here. I want to pull my hair out. 😭😭 BUT... I found a deed when he bought land from either a brother-in-law or father-in-law. However... he had already moved to the next county south. This deed index has me soooo freaking confused, I can't figure out where the deed is. It is 🤯 seriously messed up and confusing. I may have to run down to the deed office this week and ask them how to find this. Thank God this is the county I live in! My only saving grace. Lol. Because I definitely need this deed to find out what it says! Thank you for this video! You have lots of good information which gave me answers to some of my questions. Like why the wives were listed when they sold the property. B/c I THOUGHT women couldn't own property then. And they certainly weren't on the deeds when the men bought the property. Awesome video! Thank you! 💚

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome! Good luck finding that deed. Glad you’re there and can visit the county offices.

@feliciagaffney1998 Жыл бұрын

@@AncestryAimee so, I took a look at the FS Catalog options again after taking a break from it the other night. Looked again yesterday evening. Figured out which of these crazily-labeled books it was in, and was actualy able to find the deed. 🥳 I got a fairly solid location (a river in the area and a road that has been since renamed - have to find some old maps now), and two more names! Yay! I would assume the wife's brothers. Don't have dad yet... but 2 brothers, I'll take that! 💚 The one brother was selling the 1 acre, the other brother witnessed. So, the property was sold in 1840, the deed was registered over 10yrs later. So, thank goodness it fits my timeline! Bonus... finding the grantee brother in the 1840 Census allowed me to find my target family on the same page! 🥳🥳 Last name was... well, I don't know that you'd call it "misspelled", exactly, the enumerator gave my guy a new name. Haha! I mean... it's Rose... but the enumerator made it "Rofo" (long S = Rosso). 🤷🏻‍♀️ So happy to have found them! 😄 Making progress!

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

@@feliciagaffney1998 yeah!!!

@tanelise4673 6 ай бұрын

Aimee, you just gave me a headache with that Russell system. 😂😂😂 I'm trying to trace my enslaved relatives journey

@AncestryAimee 6 ай бұрын

You’re not alone!!

@pocu321 11 ай бұрын

It seems Ancestry has changed the titles of some of these collections. I tried search for "wills, probates, lands" as it looks at the top of your search page and nothing comes up. I hate when that happens.

@AncestryAimee 11 ай бұрын

Yeah. That is an issue. It makes it hard to search the catalog on Ancestry. I recently did a video about that. Check out kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rtpdltlqrpzSgps.html. In FamilySearch search by location to find those.

@KatyStribling-ij8cv 2 ай бұрын

I just joined Aimee’s crew. How do you notify when you work on your tree?

@AncestryAimee 2 ай бұрын

I answered in your earlier comment, but let me know if you have any other issues!

@Hogan31500 Жыл бұрын

Any advice for looking at deeds that isn’t accompanied with an index? Cambria County, PA does have some deeds on FamilySearch, but there is no index book for them😭

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

That’s rough. You can contact the county and see if there is an index in existence. I would think there is. If not… it’s page by page focusing on the time you believe land was transferred first. But keep in mind deeds can be recorded long after the transaction occurred.

@gettinmine6604 Жыл бұрын

Hi, when i get the results saying "Family History Center" or "FamilySearch affiliate Library", does it have to be in the same county or state that I'm searching? I live in another state and I've located a couple of centers here. Thanks.

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

I’m not completely sure what you mean. If you see a camera with lock you can view near you. If you click on it it usually says you can view it at (what you mentioned) which means any affiliate library or Latter-day Saint church Family History Center. If it’s a film reel, you can see where that microfilm is available. Usually it’s the family history in Salt Lake City.

@marylumetz2782 2 жыл бұрын

Once I find the deed, where do I find a map to understand where the property was located and what it looks like plotted out? This is my first visit to you KZfaq site, so excuse me if you have already done a session on how to plot a deed map and I just have not found it.

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

That’s a great question MaryLu! The county can provide that information - that’s my first choice. It depends if the deed is using current measuring with range and township description or with old measurements. If it’s the current systems sometimes you can find books that show those markings. There are some websites as well but the ones I know about charge a fee.

@patl.l.wright7996 8 күн бұрын

How does this information apply to Canadian records?

@AncestryAimee 7 күн бұрын

Deeds are valuable, no matter where you find them. I’m not as familiar with Canada, but I do know that they do have deed indexes. However, with full text searching available now, it’s even easier to check Canadian deeds. I have a video coming out on that next Saturday.

@Azoreanislandgirl Жыл бұрын

I'm trying to locate land record's in the Azores, is it on Family search ?, easy to use search ?.

@AncestryAimee Жыл бұрын

I’m certainly not an expert on Portugal. That would be the first place I would go. To the catalog and wiki pages on FamilySearch. The wiki pages will have links to other websites and resources.

@Azoreanislandgirl Жыл бұрын

Thank you

@kathywiseman7944 11 ай бұрын

I found out last night that a married woman in Iowa is still not allowed to own property without their husband's name on the deed. 😡

@AncestryAimee 11 ай бұрын

What??? I had NO idea!! That’s crazy!!!

@KatyStribling-ij8cv 2 ай бұрын

How do I access handouts?

@AncestryAimee 2 ай бұрын

Welcome Katy! Go to my channel page www.youtube.com/@ancestryaimee and you'll see a membership tab. If you go there you'll see posts just for members and it's there I put the links to the current handout. I also post notifications of the upcoming livestreams where I work on my tree.

@TriggerTravels 2 жыл бұрын

Literally almost every record has a lock and key...pretty much useless

@AncestryAimee 2 жыл бұрын

Some suggestions - create an account and be sure you're signed in. In some counties that is the case, but it is not true in all counties. If there is a lock and key you can view the images at a Family History Center or Affiliate - click this link to find one near you - www.familysearch.org/fhcenters/locations/