| CONCLUSION |
| Using civil, court, town, and land records for colonial immigrants is not easy. Many have been lost or destroyed. Many others are only found in repositories many hundreds (or thousands) of miles from where we live. Most are poorly, if at all, indexed. Their content varies considerably, and they often don't explicitly identify the immigrant. However, hidden beneath the dusty, crumbling leaves of old volumes you may find a diamond. Even if you don't find the actual name of an immigrant's home, you will likely learn other important facts, including his approximate date of arrival, names of fellow travelers, and additional family members. All of this is significant information you will eventually use to properly find and identify him or her in the records of his or her ancestral home.
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