I’m researching one of my great-grandfathers. According to the 1900,1910, and 1920 census he lived in the same place. I know from family history it was a farm. How big is something I want to learn. It may have only been 5 acres, 10 acres, 50 acres or larger. I’d also like to at least drive by and see what’s there now.
I know deeds and The Bill of Assurance used to show every previous property owner. I recall my Uncle’s even showed when the property was sub divided from Acreage to house lots. That was thirty years ago. I’ve never seen my deed. My mortgage was paid off in 2004 and I didn’t get squat from them, except a letter refunding 20 bucks I overpaid.
How would I determine what property “Jack Jones” owned in such and such county around 1900-1920? Would the old records from 1900 be indexed by a person’s name? For rural property, would I go to the county courthouse? Which department would I inquire at?
Deeds are usually recorded at the county clerk in the county office building (it may be the courthouse, too; it all depends on the county). They should have records dating back to when the county was established (at least). Look for the “Recorder of Deeds” office.
For any property you would go to the Registry of Deeds, usually located in the town that is the county seat, and not infrequently close to or co-located with the county courthouse.
You could start by checking the Grantor-Grantee index. This lists (by name) people who have either sold or bought property in the county. If you find a relevant entry, what you want from it is the Book and Page of the property deed.
This takes you to a computerized or microfilmed set of records showing all deeds for all property in the county - or, if old enough (which 100 years ago probably is), the actual giant book in which deeds are recorded. You find the correct book (typically numbered, but sometimes identified with letters), go to the correct page, and there, typically occupying several pages, is the deed to the property. It will describe the property bounds in great detail: “Beginning at a metal post adjacent to County Road 452 thence North 32 degrees East a distance of 42 rods along lands now or formerly of Eugene P. Smith to the stump of a maple tree, thence …”
If you are new to this, call upon the ladies who staff the office of the Registrar of Deeds - they are typically quite happy to help.
Why are Dopers so damned mysterious about their locations? You don’t give a clue what country you live in, much less what state and county this property might be in. Makes it really hard to give a good specific answer . . . as you see, with people chiming in about how they’d look something where they live rather than where you (or your grandfather) live.
In some states, primarily the Midwest, commercially published (annual) plat map books were common for farmland areas. These may be in your local university library, allowing you to avoid a morning at the courthouse.
Other posters are on the right track, but it’s not so simple as looking up Jack Jones on a certain date and getting a list of property he owned at the time.
Let’s say Jack Jones lived from 1840-1920. You would start around 1855 and look all the way forward to 1920 in the “Grantee” index to see all of the property that he bought. Similarly, you would look in the “Grantor” index to see all of the property that he sold.
If he inherited the property through a will or intestate succession, it likely wouldn’t be in either of these indexes, so you would want to check his father’s records backwards and forwards as well.
If your ancestor’s name is Ebenezer Shackelford, you will have a much easier time (but make sure to look for all of the misspellings in those hand written records!) but if your ancestor’s name really is Jack Jones, get ready to look at the other 35 Jack Joneses who have no relation to your ancestor.