The Family Tree Problem Solver: Tried-And-True Tactics for Tracing Elusive Ancestors (17 page)

Figure 5-4
Nancy Y. Brown and Nancy Strain deed, Cloud County, Kansas.

See chapter seven on land records for in-depth coverage of this subject. I also suggest that you consult
Locating Your Roots: Discover Your Ancestor Using Land Records
by Patricia Law Hatcher, CG, FASG (Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 2003).

County land transactions are usually in the office of the recorder, although the specific title of the office may vary. The primary responsibility of those who work in the recorder's office is the handling of current land transactions. They will have neither the knowledge nor the time to help you with your land record research. It is up to you to know what you are searching for, and the most you can expect the office personnel to contribute is the location of the records.

Remember that the best evidence for proving a line of descent is through documents that track the inheritance of land. One of the most important and helpful sets of documents you can locate is a mixture of probate, circuit, and land records. Called land partitions, these documents offer a complete overview of the division of a deceased person's land. The petition for a land partition was usually filed in the circuit court or common pleas court. When the partition of the land was made, the names of those involved in the sale were also recorded in the deed books.

References to a “friendly suit” (see terms defined at the end of the chapter) might make it appear that there was some sort of family feud taking place, but this describes
the method by which the heirs reached a legal agreement regarding the division of an estate.
When I found a friendly suit initiated in Preble County, Ohio, I was able to identify the father of my third great-grandmother, Elizabeth Brown. Her father, David Pressley, lived and died in South Carolina in a county whose land records have been burned. To my knowledge, he never set foot in Ohio; yet, because he owned land in Preble County, a suit naming him was filed there at his death.

Another listing of heirs may have occurred when a piece of real estate held by the deceased was sold. Sometimes you may find all the heirs listed together (as in Figure 5-5), or each party may have quitclaimed their right to the parcel separately, in which case the deeds may be spread over several pages or even several deed books.

There are three great clues in the deed in Figure 5-6. We know that a will existed in Augusta County, Virginia, for John Hamilton. We know that Andrew Hamilton was probably also connected to Samuel and Joanna Wilson, who also moved to Missouri. Because Andrew gave the share back to Joanna, we can hypothesize that he was her brother and that her maiden name was probably Hamilton (this assumption was proved correct by Augusta County, Virginia, marriages). Places of former residences are particularly important when tracing married women. One of the most common failings of genealogists is that they do not adequately search the brothers and sisters of their ancestors. The joint sale of real estate is one of the best ways to locate adult siblings.

Other types of land transactions found in deed books can be very helpful, such as a power of attorney, a deed of gift, a quitclaim deed, or a marital contract. It is also important to check for dower releases. Wives controlled their dower (usually a one-third lifetime estate) by controlling the sale of their husband's real estate during his lifetime. Often the law called for a private interview of the wife during a real estate transfer. This interview, legally referred to as an “examination,” served as a guarantee to court officials that a woman entered into a conveyance of real estate voluntarily, and not because her husband was forcing her. By the nineteenth century, most states were requiring this release and examination. There are, however, variations among the states and colonies in earlier time periods. In fact, it is because of these variations regarding married women's property rights in early America that we must be wary of generalizations. If you are having difficulty establishing the identity of a wife within a colonial family, you should become familiar with the laws in effect in the location and period you are researching.

Figure 5-5
David Pressley deed, Preble County, Ohio.

Tracking women is a great challenge in genealogy, particularly in colonies and states that did not record civil marriages.
Often, we can attempt to establish a woman's given name and her approximate time of death by studying the deeds made by her husband.
This works in the colonies and states where she had the right to control her husband's real estate transactions. In states, colonies, and territories where she did not, a researcher may presume that she had died before her time by thinking that she should have signed a deed when, in fact, the law did not require it. Even when a dower was required, she may not have released it (thus leaving the grantee at risk for not having a clear title) or she may have given her consent later in a separate deed.

Another type of land record that is always of great benefit to the genealogist is the conveyance that describes the chain of title. This document tracks the owners of a piece of land from the earliest owner to the present one. You rarely find these in the public land states (those formed after the American Revolution), but in state land states (the thirteen colonies or those states formed directly from them), these deeds can be of great assistance. You can find examples of deeds that describe every transaction over a period of 150 years.

Entail
is another term that genealogists may encounter when searching early records, usually those before the American Revolution, and usually more often in the South than in the North. It refers to conditions or limitations placed on an inheritance by the grantor. In an entailed deed, the grantor may have specified that only his male grandchildren could finally inherit the land in fee simple, or that his land should pass only to the eldest son of the eldest son. The important thing to remember is that there were restrictions on the way land entailed could be passed by inheritance. The specific deed describes how that was to be done.

Again, as we move closer to the time of the American Revolution, we are less likely to see land entailed and may begin to encounter the terms
break
or
bar an entail
, which means that the estate was to be freed from the limitations imposed by entail. This would, of course, generate a court case, which could provide even more genealogical information.

Figure 5-6
Callaway County, Missouri, deed book.

The third set of documents, tax records, are usually found in the auditor's office. Although this is their official location, because they are not needed by current court officers, they are often stored in out-of-the-way places or even discarded. They may have been donated to a historical or genealogical society, or if the county has an archive, they may have been placed there. Tax records may also be kept at the state level; some states have microfilmed them.

The first type of tax discussed here is the poll or head tax. This tax, issued by colonial and antebellum counties and towns, was a set, uniform tax to be paid by adult males from age twenty-one (sixteen or eighteen in some areas) to age fifty-five or sixty, customarily. There was wide variation in age and other requirements, and exemptions were not uncommon. Poll tax records can be useful for identifying men with the same name, as qualifiers were often used to distinguish them. See chapter eight for examplesamples of how men of the same name can be distinguished. Those omitted from poll tax lists usually include women (even if they owned land), indentured servants, paupers, ministers, justices of the peace, militia officers, and tax assessors; occasionally those of a particular occupation that was in demand in the community (such as ferrymen) or men with handicaps were omitted. Sometimes Kentucky communities granted exemptions to gunsmiths. In another Kentucky variation, the widow may appear on the list one year after the death of her husband, but thereafter she was exempt. Prior to 1850, one was exempt from paying taxes in Missouri on land acquired from the federal land office for five years after purchase. Local variations in tax laws can be mind-boggling; but when you become familiar with the tax laws governing an area during a particular time period, you can learn a great deal about the people who lived there. Even though these records may not seem at first glance to contain any genealogical information, they can be valuable resources.

A
quitrent
tax was a land tax typically found in New York and the colonies of the South. This tax was due the landlord or proprietor in the colony to increase his revenue. Although some quitrent lists have survived, they are difficult to locate because many remained in private hands. Quitrents were abolished during the American Revolution.

Property taxes were also levied by state and colonial governments, and the associated records can be especially helpful when tracking land transfers that were not recorded by deed. Other direct taxes by the government include an
ad valorem
tax and a
tithe
. An
ad valorem
tax was imposed on the value of the property, in contrast with a per capita tax, which was the same for everyone. A
tithe
was usually the tenth part of one's income contributed for charitable or religious purposes. Broadly interpreted, it can be any tax or assessment of one tenth of an individual's property. In some of the colonies, the term
titheable
may be synonymous with
taxable
. In colonial Virginia, a tithe was imposed on the personal property of males age twenty-one and older.