(→Published Materials: Link to The Territorial Papers of the United States page.) |
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Once a parcel of land was transferred from the government to private ownership, it may have stayed in the family for generations or for only a few months. It may have been subdivided, sold and resold, with each transaction creating new records. These person-to-person transactions are an important resource to the genealogist. The potential for an ancestor to be recorded is high. These records may offer genealogical clues, such as the given name of the wife, a previous residence, names of children, or death information. Land records also offer clues to maiden names if a father deeded property to his daughter upon marriage. Witnesses and neighbors may be in-laws or relatives. It is important to trace the purchase and sale (or the acquisition and disposition) of each parcel of land an ancestor owned. | Once a parcel of land was transferred from the government to private ownership, it may have stayed in the family for generations or for only a few months. It may have been subdivided, sold and resold, with each transaction creating new records. These person-to-person transactions are an important resource to the genealogist. The potential for an ancestor to be recorded is high. These records may offer genealogical clues, such as the given name of the wife, a previous residence, names of children, or death information. Land records also offer clues to maiden names if a father deeded property to his daughter upon marriage. Witnesses and neighbors may be in-laws or relatives. It is important to trace the purchase and sale (or the acquisition and disposition) of each parcel of land an ancestor owned. | ||
It is usually best to start a property search at the county level. Links to county pages appear below. The original records are filed in the county clerks’ or recorders’ offices or in [ | It is usually best to start a property search at the county level. Links to county pages appear below. The original records are filed in the county clerks’ or recorders’ offices or in [https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/localgovrecordssrch.jsp IRAD depositories.] As new counties were formed and boundaries changed, transactions were then recorded in the new county, while the parent county retained the records previously created. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the county land and property records up to about the year 1900. Contact the county clerk or recorder for records that have not been microfilmed. Land records can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog by using a Place-name Search for the county. | ||
== Maps == | == Maps == | ||
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