Land Records

Land records are a good source for genealogists. Land records will contain information about your ancestor's residence and the amount of property he owned. You can see when your ancestor first purchased land as he arrived to a new area and when he last sold land as he left to move another area.These dates and places can be used to establish the the specific birth place of children born during the years the family lived at a certain location. Census records are helpful in identifying the place of birth, but are limited to giving only the state or country where the birth occurred. Land records are also helpful in learning about your ancestor's wealth. A wealthy man is likely to need a will at the time of his death in order to distribute his property to his heirs. Land records will also list the name of the wife in transactions where the property is being sold.

Land records can be found in the county court house where your ancestor lived. Many land records have been microfilmed and are listed in the Family History Library Catalog. To find land records in the catalog do a place search for the county and state. A list of records available for for your area will appear. One of the topics will be "land and property". Look at the indexes first and remember to look in both the grantor and grantee indexes. One is indexed by the surname of the grantor and the other is indexed by the surname of the buyer.