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Land Record Reference

Sponsored by Direct Line Software, makers of DeedMapper mapping products for the PC.

31 Oct 2011

Welcome to our Reference Section. No need to whisper! If you don't find what you're looking for, drop us a line. We'll be glad to add items to the list.

Getting New Land

• The Feudal Land System - Ain't it great to be King!
• How Land in the Colonies Was Acquired - Patents and Grants.
• Bounty Land Warrants, by Jan Bishop McFarland - Another way of acquiring land.
• The Homestead Act of 1862, by Richard Pence - The original 'sweat equity' way to get land.

State by State History

• Indiana Land History
• Introduction to Ohio Land History
• Pennsylvania Land History, by Dr. Neal Hively
• Introduction to Tennessee Land History
• Introduction to Virginia Land History

Buying and Selling Land

• Transferring Land - The selling process.
• A Typical Deed - It's not just legalese

Land Transaction Records. How they work, and where they are.

• Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records, by William Dollarhide
• Taking the Mystery Out of Land Records, by Linda Haas Davenport
• Deed Books and the types of deeds they contain
• How To Get Copies of Land Records
• Published Books Relating to Land Records - The records you seek may already be in print
• Other Internet sites with Land Record Information

Two Types of Property Descriptions Used in Deeds

• Metes and Bounds - Meandering streams and white oak trees
  
• U.S. Public Domain - Home on the Section, Township, and Range

Terms You'll Come Across

• Surveying Units and Terms - Poles and Chains
• Legal and Other Terms - From the common to the obscure
• Corrections for compass declination errors - True norths are hard to find

Miscellaneous

• U.S. Geographic Name lookup - Locate creeks and other features named in deeds
• U.S. GenWeb - Gateway to local history and genealogy
• Cyndi's List of Land Record Sites - An excellent list of related sites
• FindLaw - Legal resources, including Property Law