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== Ackerson, Ginny - The Tales Dead Men Tell ==
Ginny Ackerson 1784 W 1300 S #109, Springville, UT 84663 groovifamily@msn.com
 
'''Death Certificates or Records of Death'''
 
Official records of death by civil authorities is a relatively new phenomenon. Most states did not start accurate death records until the early 1900's. Some states, like Virginia, started recording deaths in 1853 but they were spotty at best. Full compliance did not happen until the early 20th century. Early records usually contained the person’s name, age, date of death and place of death. Later records also recorded parents’ names, birth date, birth place, spouse’s name, cause of death, manner of death (accident, disease, homicide or suicide) funeral home and place of burial.
 
'''Probate Records'''
 
Most American probate records are created on a county or city level though there are some regional probate districts. These records mainly consist of wills, executor appointments, inventories of estates, distribution of property and guardianship records.
 
'''Wills'''
 
Wills are usually one of 3 kinds, holographic, legal or nuncupative. A holographic will is written, signed and dated entirely by the testator himself and has no witnesses. Probating this kind of will is tricky and involves proving that the handwriting is that of the testator. Legal wills are written out by a lawyer or the testator then signed by the person with the signatures of two or more witnesses. These can be long and complicated or very short and concise. If the will was made years before the actual death, these kinds of wills may have a “codicil” which is an addendum to either clarify or change the original will. This is done frequently when a potential inheritor has died. Nuncupative wills are what is usually termed as “death bed” wills. These are dictated by a dying person and written down by people present. These are generally simple and straight to the point. Before World War II these were commonly used in the battlefield.
 
Wills are valuable to genealogists because of the wealth of information provided about family relationships, their residences, possible ages, dates, and locations of land in their possession. A lot of wills name the husbands of their married daughters.
 
'''Petitions for probate and Application for Letters of Administration'''
 
These documents start the probate process and usually contain the date of death and the place that death occurred. The application may also contain the spouses name and all living next of kin and their relationship to the deceased. The appointment of an executor can yield many genealogical clues. A majority of the time the executor was a legatee and mentioned in the will and appointed by the testator himself.
 
Sometimes the court will need to appoint the executor, especially if the originally appointed executor has died or is unable to act in that capacity or the person died intestate (without a will). With large estates, estates that cover more than one jurisdiction such as county or state or if the testator left under aged children, several co-executors may be appointed. In all these cases, a great majority of the executors are related in some way to the testator and the relationship is frequently mentioned in the document along with where the executor resides. These papers are helpful in determining ages, dates, relationships and residence.
 
Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, and Executor’s and Administrator’s bonds
 
These documents have little of genealogical worth but the approximate date of death can be inferred and most names mentioned may have family ties.
 
'''Will Contests and Heir Proofs'''
 
These documents can be extremely valuable to the researcher as both name all living (and sometimes deceased heirs if they left children) and all testimony relating to the contest or right to inherit. You can find some really interesting stories in these documents!
 
'''Guardianship Records'''
 
Guardians are appointed by the courts if the deceased had minor children. A good general rule of thumb is that a child would be 14 to 21 years old if they are recorded as choosing their guardian and under 14 if the court appoints a guardian. Guardians were generally the living spouse of the deceased or another close family member. Guardianship accounts can provide clues as to their social status and their financial state. Often, if the family were well off, you can see where the children went to school by reading the accounts paid.
 
'''Inventories'''
 
After death, each estate is inventoried by court appointed persons, usually three in number, especially in the event of an estate sale to meet the debts of the deceased. Inventories provide an insight into the lifestyle of the deceased by listing and valuing their possessions. Often this is the only probate document filed for a person.
 
'''Estate Sale Reports'''
 
When there is an estate sale, a list of each item bought, the price paid and the name of the person buying the item is listed. Although no relationships are listed, quite a few family members will appear on the list reclaiming heirlooms. An approximate death date (sometimes the actual death date will appear) can be assumed from the date of the sale.
 
'''Assignment of Dower'''
 
In older documents, the assignment of the widow’s portion of the estate for her lifetime was called the dower. This paper mentions the full name of the wife which sometimes is not mentioned in the will. Dower rights inspired current laws regarding disbursement of intestate estates.
 
'''Accounts and Final Settlements'''
 
These are the complete listings of debts, disbursements and remaining assets of the estate filed with the court. Sometimes this takes years so there are annual accounts submitted until the estate is completely settled. The listings of disbursements and debts can provide a lot of insight into when the children married and if the widow remarried, and if the children went to school and where.
 
'''Distribution Documents'''
 
These can be wonderful sources of information as they list each person inheriting from the estate, their current address and their relationship to the deceased.
 
'''Burial Records'''
 
Church burial records
 
Some denominations keep excellent records which name parents, spouse, children, birth and death
 
dates and birth and death places and marriage date and place. Most denominations record just the minimum of the name of the deceased, age, date and place of death and the plot if they were buried in the church graveyard.
 
'''Funeral Home Records'''
 
These records can be a great boon to genealogists. The following is a list of some of the records I have found in funeral home files: Obituaries, death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates, military records, funeral cards and programs, pictures of the deceased, newspaper articles about the cause of death (if it was a high profile disease, accident, homicide or suicide), and certificates of bodies in transit.
 
Currently, a lot of funeral homes are placing this information on line at their company web sites. They also include obituaries.
 
'''Sexton’s Records'''
 
The sexton is the person who is in charge of the cemetery, whether it is a church, public or private cemetery. Files here range from only names and burial dates to having almost as much information as funeral homes. Sexton’s records also include who bought the plot, how much was paid for it, how many spaces are available and who else is in the plot and sometimes their relationship to the plot owner.
 
'''Grave Markers'''
 
Tombstones can range from a rock, simple cross or plaque to large memorials and be made from wood, stone, marble and metal. They can have detailed information about birth and death and parentage or they can have no information at all. It is worth checking out as valuable information can be recorded on these memorials.
 
'''Casket Maker’s and Tombstone Maker’s Records'''
 
These are hard to find...yet some family establishments have records for many generations. You can get a clue as to where the estate got the casket and marker by reading the accounts and final settlement record and noting the name of the casket maker and the stonemason who were paid from the estate. Check to see if these establishments are still in business or if the records from those companies were donated to local libraries, genealogical societies or historical societies. If you don’t have a death date, the date the casket was ordered and then delivered will narrow it down quite a bit. Tombstones could have been placed much later.
 
'''Newspapers'''
 
Obituaries, Death Notices, and Legal Notices
 
These are the most common items published in newspapers for deceased persons. Obituaries are usually done by the family or funeral home and include detailed biographical data, living relatives and their current residences, predeceased relatives, place and date of burial and the funeral home that was in charge. Some include religious affiliation. Death notices are published in the paper by the Health department and include name, date of death and address. Occasionally you can find a memoriam a year or so later for someone who didn’t have an obituary published when they died. To settle estates, especially in cases where someone died intestate or the will is contested, families are required to print a list of known heirs and their place of residence along with a request for any other claimants to contact the family’s lawyer within a set time period.
 
'''Articles'''
 
Sometimes a person’s death is newsworthy; for example, if they were famous locally or in a terrible fire, car accident, homicide, suicide or local outbreak of a fatal disease. Check the papers for a few days before and after your relative’s death especially if the doctor or coroner lists an unusual cause or manner of death. It is amazing the details given in some of these articles about family relationships.
 
'''Coroners Records'''
 
Coroner’s Reports
 
When a death is unattended (no doctor present or not under a doctor’s care) or if murder or suicide is suspected, then an autopsy has to be performed and a ruling made as to the manner of death, whether it be disease, accident, suicide or homicide. These reports are made public after a period of time determined by the local jurisdiction. Though some are quite graphic they can be good sources of information. Some reports give a physical description of the deceased and include the police report of the circumstances surrounding the death.
 
'''Bodies in Transit'''
 
If a person died in one jurisdiction but was transported to another, the receiving coroner or funeral home had to sign a paper acknowledging that they received the body from the jurisdiction indicated on the form. This practice was originated in an effort to curb transmittable diseases. These were kept in the file of the deceased and in registers kept by jurisdictions and can provide valuable information such as date and cause of death, next of kin and the residence of both.
 
'''Social Security Death Index'''
 
The SSDI is available online up to March 2014 at several sites including FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. Because of recently enacted laws, the SSDI will not list deceased persons until 3 years after the person has passed. Information included in this record is name, birth date, death date, last residence or place where benefits were sent, place where SSN was granted. The name will only appear if a claim was made. The SSDI was computerized in 1962 and claims before then are being added to the database.
 
U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
 
A new index database at Ancestry.com consisting of about 49 million original applications. Info includes applicant's full name, Social Security Number (SSN), date and place of birth, date of death, citizenship, sex, parents’ names with mother’s maiden name, race/ethnic description and names changes. Applications are also available if no claim was made for disability, retirement or death benefits (names in the SSDI and the applications database are only of people who made claims) at <nowiki>https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-711.pdf</nowiki>
 
'''Online Sources'''
 
www.familysearch.org ; <nowiki>https://www.ancestry.com/</nowiki> Has actual death certificates, burial records and wills for a few places
 
www.findagrave.com ; <nowiki>https://billiongraves.com/</nowiki> Has inscriptions, some obituaries and biographies, some pictures of graves and people
 
<nowiki>http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/deathrecords.html</nowiki> Death certificates and indexes, cemeteries and obituaries by state
 
<nowiki>https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Newspapers</nowiki> how to find old and new newspapers
 
Check funeral home web sites for burials and obituaries, check cemetery sites for burials and inscriptions, check the county and state genealogical and historical societies for databases including obituaries, cemetery records, wills and will indexes and more. Some county governments have will indexes online.
 
== Eakle, Arlene H. - Property Records in America Form a Complete Record System ==
c2018, Arlene H. Eakle <nowiki>http://arleneeakle.com</nowiki>
 
When your ancestors came to America—from the very beginning—and settled in Massachusetts, in New York, in Virginia, in South Carolina, they wanted their land titles certified and recorded: 1) original documents which they could keep in their own possession to prove ownership, 2) and officially recorded copies kept by the government. They wanted a clear title that they could pass along to heirs and purchasers alike, unhindered. In this system liberty and freedom are also considered property. Recall the wording of the original version of the Declaration of Independence—“Pursuit of Property” which was changed to “Pursuit of Happiness,” lest our enemies accuse us of greed.
 
Be sure to account for all of the lands your potential ancestor owned and what the source of that land is! Occupations, kinship networks, migration patterns, even places of origin can be documented in these records.
 
Search tax rolls first, deeds second, patents and grants last. Tax rolls are year by year and will uniquely identify people of the same name. Use these identities to search the deeds and land grants.
 
'''What You Can Do with Tax Records:'''
 
Almost every male over age 16 and many women, including young girls are taxed. Exemptions are set by law or granted by special decree. Tax records are significant genealogy sources, because the majority of the population is tallied in these records. Here is a list of some of the evidence they contain:
 
Precise Identification of the Population--Males--age 16, over age 21; Status: Females--widows, heirs, owners; Father/Mother--"...of John," when more than one person has the same given name.
 
Proof of Residence--poll tax, levied on residents to support the local government Real estate tax--proof of ownership, location of property, not residency; non-residents usually stated or listed separately--"seated" means principal place of residence; “non-seated” means out-of-area owner
 
Preview of Spelling Variants of name--especially valuable for immigrant ancestors who modified their surnames in America.
 
Identify Militia District where the company often mustered as a group. Militia officers were responsible for taking and recording assessments and the local military censuses were recorded with the tax rolls.
 
Kept by Every Level of Jurisdiction--National, State, District, County, Local Districts or Companies. Duplicate copies ensured survival of the records.
 
One of the Best Census Substitutes we have: You can spot other family members and close associates; clusters of relatives in specific areas, on the same water course; determine where to begin your searches--you can use tax information to set the dimensions of your searches. Missing census years: New Jersey–1790; Kentucky--1787, 1790, 1800; Virginia--1782-85, 1787, 1800; Tennessee–1790, 1800, 1810, 1820.
 
Prove or Disprove Family Relationships and Traditions--fill in gaps on your family charts; verify probable places of burial for elderly parents; discover surnames of spouses and married daughters as well as missing maiden surnames.
 
Searches in tax records will help you search land and probate records more effectively. And when your ancestor has a common surname, the tax rolls will uniquely set him apart from all others by the same name--thus narrowing your actual research time in the original records.
 
Tax exemptions were made for age, physical condition, sex, color, military position, occupation, and public service. Exemptions were established by law, custom, petition, or court action. And recorded!
 
Delinquent lists could be printed in the newspapers with places of origin and subsequent settlement given for each name on the list. These lists link your ancestor to the places you have already searched. Genealogy editors love such lists to share with their readers—so also check current periodicals for these.
 
Read each list carefully and pay special attention to the amount of the tax paid. Papists (Roman Catholics) were taxed double in time of peace and paid triple or quadruple taxes in time of war. Quakers were also double-taxed. Some collectors identified directly, the religion of persons on the list whether they were charged more or not.
 
An Indiana statute, 1831, exempted “all persons who have served in the land or naval services of the United States during the Revolutionary War, upon payment of a poll tax and a tax on personal property. The soldier had to supply the court with a sworn affidavit before witnesses” providing details of his service. Revolutionary soldiers were also exempt from imprisonment for debt. (Tri-State-Trader, 1975)
 
Examples: Albemarle Virginia Tax Rolls
 
Tax rolls in some states include entries for women—as widows, as heirs. In Virginia, if a man had no male heirs, the daughters of the household would appear on the tax rolls when he died. For example, in Albemarle County the tax roll contained much more than the brief entries of 25 acres assessed to a group of women. If you chart the facts given in the roll, draw some conclusions from these facts, then examine the entire roll, some exciting evidence emerges which can be compared and supported with deeds and marriage bonds: You can determine which Nancy is the right one and who she married. You can distinguish the daughters from the mother/widow. And you can build the whole family, with the beginning of the pedigree. If you take the entries on their merits alone, you will miss the significance of the property descriptions given you as a bonus by the tax collector.
 
With the help of the property descriptions, and the year when each girl disappears from the tax roll, you can re-examine the rolls to see what male picks up that piece of land. Then look in his household for the missing girl. The procedure works equally well for a widow with a piece of property. Be sure to examine each district within the county if rolls are separate for each district. Tax collectors have been known to lump all of a man’s property together and to list them all on the same roll even though the land was actually in different districts.
 
Property descriptions given in the tax rolls are often more precise and easier to trace than that given in the deeds. And the descriptions distinguish between men of the same name. When correlated with deeds and probates, you can observe from year to year, the property status of each man and it becomes easier to discern who is who when a death occurs.
 
[TWO IMAGES REMOVED IN ORDER TO UPLOAD TO THE WIKI]
 
Evidence in Special Tax Years
 
1704-05—Virginia quit rent rolls of 14 counties survived for this year only; five Northern Neck counties did not survive, but the names of land owners on the Fairfax grants survive. A companion law required that the sale of lands must include the slaves; slaves could not be sold without the land. The law ensured that the plantation system survived.
 
1798--Federal Tax: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maine, New York, Maryland
 
1815--Additional levies made to pay for the costs of the War of 1812
 
Civil War (1863)--Federal and State Income Tax
 
Kentucky--1830-1870 state and local schedules
 
Dog taxes, especially in the South following the Civil War--1865 slave name, 1866-68 freed name. Use with probate inventories of white families who owned slaves before 1865.
 
Printed Tax Records
 
__Georgia Tax Digests, 1790, 1800-08
 
__Illinois, Early Illinois Records Card File, on microfilm FamilySearch
 
__Kentucky, Old Lincoln County: Land Holders (17,000) 1787-1811; Householders (34,000) 1787-1811
 
__Maryland: Baltimore City Archives, tax rolls for 1798-1808
 
__New Jersey, 1793 Military Census
 
__New York, Dutchess County, 1718-1787
 
__North Carolina, 2 Vols. selected lists printed in North Carolinian
 
__Ohio, Early Ohio Tax Lists, non-census years: Washington County, 1800; Territory South of the Ohio River [Tennessee] in Early Ohio, Vol 2
 
__Pennsylvania, selected counties 1780’s; Pennsylvania Archives, 1743-1789
 
__Virginia, 1782-1787 census substitutes, 1790, 2 Vols.; 1800 Virginia Genealogist
 
__Virginia, Northern Neck Rent Rolls computer print-out, Genealogy Library Center, Tremonton UT 84337
 
__Virginia: 1790-1800 County Tax Lists, available by subscription; Colonial Tithe Lists <nowiki>http://www.binnsgenealogy.com</nowiki>
 
__AIS Index: New Jersey (issued separately, 4 Vols.); Delaware; Virginia (Northern Neck)
 
Study Suggestions: Henry C. Adams, Ph.D., Taxation in the United States, 1789-1816 (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Studies 2nd S. V-VI, 1884); Beverly W. Bond, Jr., The Quit-Rent System in the American Colonies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919. Reprint, 1965, Peter Smith, Gloucester, MA); Arlene H. Eakle and Linda E. Brinkerhoff, Tax Records:A Common Source With an Uncommon Value (1978. Family History World, P.O. Box 129, Tremonton, UT 84337). John T. Spellman, “Tax Records: A Treasury of New York Information,” The New York Researcher (Fall 2014): 52-57.
 
'''How to Read and Chart Land Documents--'''
 
Premises - date of document, date of recording
 
Names of Parties - part they take - 1), 2), 3), place of residence
 
Testatum - purpose of deed
 
WITNESSETH:
 
a) Consideration: money paid
 
b) Intension (intention): DOTH, GRANT, BARGAIN and SELL
 
c) Parcels: description: ALL THAT... Habendum: estate created and use intended
 
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD...
 
Testimonium: signatures of parties, witnessed and signed
 
How to Read Old Title Deeds. C. Julian Cornwall, University of Birmingham, Department of Extramural Studies, 1964.
 
'''Why Chart Your Property Data?'''
 
The final format you seek is a family record showing father, mother, and all the kids with their relationships to each other proven to be true. Accompanying these family records, you want a pedigree or lineage chart showing how each family descends from common ancestors. If you extract the data to family charts as you go, you get these benefits:
 
1) Standardized data for comparison and analysis. You can examine each line quickly and effectively draw the conclusions provided by the evidence. You are less likely to err.
 
2) Separated pieces of evidence for easy sorting--by name, by date, by place, by relationship, by migration pattern.
 
3) Clearly identified persons from each record--you know who, where, what, when, why or you pose these as questions to be answered.
 
4) Itemized property holdings to account for each transaction and all properties. Did your ancestor sell each piece of land he purchased? Were lands left over to provide for widow and divide among children?
 
5) Questions answered from the data directly: Could a minor own land? How old did a person have to be to sell land or to apply for a grant? If a woman’s name appears first in property record, is she a wife, a widow, a mother? Could a man own land in more than one jurisdiction at the same time?
 
6) Property ownership has been of sufficient concern to all levels of society that most American jurisdictions create and preserve one or more categories of property records-- providing a constant in proof of relationship no other record category can match.
 
Charting your evidences as you go through the records allows the evidence to dictate the direction research takes--a true reflection of the life history of your family. If you have been putting all the evidence in your computer program, these details will be found in the notes. Chart
 
this evidence in your computer program, so the computer can help you with analysis of the data. Give it a try—you will be overjoyed at the result!
 
Evidence examples: Sr. and Jr. Record clerks are not always consistent and since the use of Jr. and Sr. does not always refer to father and son, you can be easily misled unless you exercise caution. A better way to show it might be: John Sellers (of John), John Sellers (of Jacob). Jr. and Sr. just mean that there are two men of the same name.
 
When you have 5 James Sellers, 4 Robert Sellers, and 4 Isaac Sellers residing in the same group or cluster of families--all too common in most families--and you lack census enumerations or wills listing each family unit, you can sort these “same persons” by 1) what they do, 2) where they live, 3) who they are involved with, and 4) how much they own or pay:
 
1) John Sellers who resides on Glades Creek, a branch of Muddy Creek and owns land on Sellers branch of Muddy Creek
 
2) John Sellers (son of James), resides on Silver Creek
 
3) John Sellers who resides on Glades Creek which flows into the Catawba River
 
Only Silver Creek is still in Burke County, NC; the other 2 locations end up in McDowell County, created in 1842 from Burke and Rutherford Counties.
 
Names of Creeks and Rivers Can Be Troublesome
 
More than one creek of the same name, within a similar location: Camp Creek; Cain/Cane Creek; Beaverdam Creek/Branch; Muddy Creek. And the word “near,” a common locator word in property records, means “closest,” not necessarily nearby. It could be 5 - 50 miles away.
 
Gores: Another Set of Records
 
A gore is a pie-shaped wedge of land (sometimes oblong-shaped). It is created when a survey line is run incorrectly or when a boundary change leaves an extra strip of land. Gores are found in Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and parts of the West. They are “surplus” land and they often have their own set of records - in Vermont, New York, New Jersey. Their lands may be absorbed into the county or town of which they were once a part. In this case, the records are absorbed and preserved in the county or town, too.
 
Short Study List:
 
Dollarhide, William. “Retracing the Trails of your Ancestors Using Deed Records,” Genealogy Bulletin #25 (Jan-Feb 1995): 1-8. Establishing proof of residence and genealogy relationships. Dollarhide recommends searching the deeds first.
 
Eakle, Arlene H. <nowiki>http://VirginiaGenealogyBlog.com</nowiki> “Southern Land Records: State-by-State, August 15, 2012 Virginia-Maryland; August 18 2012 Louisiana-Alabama/Mississippi.”
 
Hansen, Holly T., James L. Tanner, and Arlene H. Eakle. US Land and Tax Records Research Guide. Morgan UT: Family History Expos, 2015. Thorough treatment of land records including bounty lands, government, and private property records
 
Hone, Wade E. Land and Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997. The best genealogy description in print of the Federal Land Records.
 
Salmon, Marylynn. Women and the Law of Property in Early America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990. Essential section on a widow’s right to dower property and the differences in each colony.
 
== Juengling, Fritz - Tips for Genealogical Research ==
Jimr357
946

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