Locating and Using Individual Land Records

Land records of the past one hundred years can be catalogued as grantee (buyer), grantor (seller) records, and can be indexed in a variety of methods. The first time I searched for an ancestor in the deed records, I was totally lost. I expected the deeds to be listed in alphabetical order and to find the ancestor’s name spelled correctly. But I discovered that clerks were too busy to put everything in strict alphabetical order. Rather they would put all those deeds for people who started with the letter S on a page for that letter of the alphabet. It was up to the reader to go through all those people first. If the S page became too full, look for unusual letters like “Q” or “Z” and you might find the extra S individuals there.

Later people became more sophisticated. Look at the following samples where keys were given to dividing up those people who ended with the letter “S.”

These indexes were often based upon the first one or two letters of the given name to make the long list of people easier to read through. However this did not prepare me for those times when I had to find an ancestor’s deed that was indexed under the Sheriff’s name because the ancestor’s land had to be disposed of at his death because the family did not have money to pay the bills. Those deed books are huge, heavy books as well. In order to take images of the books, the microfilm lighting was often dark on the edges, so it is best to be sure you can read the volume and page number from the index before you take the reel off the microfilm reader. Study this sample of the two pages in the deed index for Vigo County, Indiana. Quite a bit of information is provided.

The ultimate goal is to obtain a clear copy of a land record like this one.

Sometimes land records in a state can be complex and you might need some help in understanding their availability, the location of finding aids for them, and how to interpret what you read. By using the Research Outlines found under the name of the states and countries, at www.familysearch.org, SEARCH tab, then RESEARCH HELPS tab, you can receive assistance. Here is an example of an older printout of the land page for the state of Illinois.

With the complex land records of Ohio, you might need an entire book on the state, such as this Ohio Area Key.