1
Greater Sioux
County
Genealogical
Society
Newsletter
Sioux Center Public Library
102 South Main Ave. Sioux Center IA 51250
Volume 15----Issue 1
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Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors
Using Deed Records
by William Dollarhide
From the GENEALOGY BULLETIN, Issue No. 25, Jan-Feb 1995
Establishing
Proof
of
Residence
and
Learning Genealogical Clues
Since the first colonists came to this continent,
land ownership has always been an important
part of our American society.
As an example, nine out of ten
adult white males in America
owned land before 1850. Even
today the figure is over fifty
percent.
With this nearly universal
coverage before 1850, and
since
genealogical
research
starts getting more difficult
about that time, it is a wonder that family
historians are not using land ownership records
more often to solve their genealogical puzzles.
For instance, did you know that there is a
county-wide surname index to virtually every
land owner in America since the early 1600s --
an index that is more complete than any head-of-
household census index ever compiled? And did
you know that you have a ninety percent chance
of finding your ancestor in that land ownership
index?
There are few indexes used by genealogists
that offer a ninety percent chance of finding the
right person. Even today, a modern telephone
directory
gives
the
names
of
only
those
households with a publicly listed telephone
number. A recent study in Los Angeles revealed
that over twenty percent of the telephone
numbers are unlisted numbers. Yet, there is a
surname index for Los Angeles County that gives
the names of ninety percent of the heads of
households of that county during the 1850s. The
index is called the "Grantee/Grantor" index or
"Index to real estate conveyances". Such an
index can be found in all 3,100 counties in the
United States.
Let's take the 1840 census as an example. In
1840,
the
names of the
heads
of
households
are all that are
shown -- but if
you were to
look at the Grantee/Grantor index for the same
county, you may discover that one household
could have more than one landowner. Say you
find in the census that the head of household is
John Smith, Jr. But what you don't know is that
living in the same household is John Smith, Sr.,
and maybe even John Smith, III, and each of
them own a piece of property. Only John Smith,
Jr. is listed in the 1840 head of household
census, but the Grantee/Grantor index lists all
three landowners.
We genealogists eventually recognize the
significance of land ownership as we attempt to
locate records of our ancestors. But at first look
we may not see the importance of land records