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Ancestry Daily News
10/2/2002 - Archive
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Milling Around for Leads |
Milling Around for Leads
I thought I knew quite a bit about my ancestor Johann Ufkes, a German
immigrant to Illinois in the late 1860s. Family information and initial research
were consistent and allowed me to create the following abbreviated chronology
for the first fifteen years of his life in the United States:
1869—arrived in United States, settling in Adams County, Illinois
1874—married Noentje Grass in Hancock County, Illinois
ca. 1880—moved to Adams County, Illinois
1882—moved back to Hancock County, Illinois
Family members knew where Johann lived in Adams County after his marriage. The
farm he purchased after he moved back to Hancock County is still in the family.
It is his residences before his marriage that are not precisely known. Johann's
residence in Hancock County the first time (from at least the time of his marriage
until his move to Adams County) is not known, although he was likely to have
lived in or near the German community in the southern part of the county.
I knew Johann had purchased what is known as the "homeplace" in 1882
in Hancock County. The potential research pitfall was that his purchase of the
"homeplace" in 1882 was not his first land transaction in Hancock
County. If I had only focused on searching for that specific record, I would
have missed some excellent information.
My search for Johann in Hancock County, Illinois, land records started with
his arrival in the United States in 1869. This might have been a tad bit too
early, but I wanted all my bases covered. In this case, my search was rewarded
and the deed I located told me more than I expected to find out.
Source: Hancock County, Illinois, Recorder, Deed Book 108, page 146, an abstract
of the pertinent details follow:
Grantors: John Ufkes and Noentje Lena Ufkes his wife late of Hancock County,
Illinois, now of Adams County, Illinois
Consideration: $325.00
Grantee: Sidney L Hobert, of Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois
Property: Block Number Eight in the town of Basco, also the mill with the engine
machinery and fixtures thereof.
Date: 5 Oct 1880
Signed by: John Ufkes, Noentje Lina Ufkes
Witnesses: None
Acknowledged: 6 October 1880 before William Hanna, a Notary Public in Adams
County, Illinois.
Recorded: 8 October 1880
First Things First
The grantor is the seller. The grantee is the buyer. These terms can be easily
confused and a mix-up will waste research time. It helps to write these kinds
of terms and their definitions on a sheet of paper or an index card and take
them with you when you go to research. Then you have a ready reference. Land
records will not use the term buyer and seller just to make it easier for the
genealogist.
Where Did I Access The Records?
These records were obtained in Hancock County Recorder's Office at the county
courthouse. Normally the county courthouse is the first place to look for land
transactions among private individuals (very early records may be in a state
or regional archives). See the additional references at the end of this week's
column for additional information on locating specific locations of records.
Are The Ufkeses Late?
The Ufkeses are listed as being "late." They signed the deed, so the
reference is not indicating Johann and Noentje were deceased at the time the
deed was signed. The word "late" in this sense does not mean they
were running behind schedule either. In this case "late" indicates
a former place of residence and nothing more. Researchers should take care when
interpreting the word "late" in any legal document. "Late"
does not always mean what we currently think it does. While not used in this
document, "deceased" usually means dead!
Dates
In this document, the dates of execution, acknowledgement, and recording are
fairly close together. This is not always the case. A researcher should always
make careful notes of these dates when transcribing a document.
Notary A Clue?
Had I been really stuck on this family, the notary's name would have been a
significant clue. In this case, based upon oral family history and local settlement
patterns, I had a good idea of where Johann lived in Adams County, Illinois.
However, if I had not had such information, the notary could have helped me.
Locating the notary in a census record may have helped me to start my search
for the Ufkeses. A search of the National 1880 Census Index (www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/4597.asp)
revealed only one Hanna (and variants) match in Adams County, Illinois: William
Hanna living in Keokuk Junction, Adams County. Had I not been able to locate
Johann using other 1880 census finding aids (such as the 1880 Illinois Soundex
or the FamilySearch 1880 National Census Index), this location would have been
helpful. My search for Johann would have logically started in Keokuk Junction
and moved from there. Given that the deed was drawn up in Illinois in 1880,
it is likely that John did not have to travel a great distance to find a notary.
The situation would have been different if the research problem were in Illinois
in 1815 when the state's settlement was sparse. It turns out that Johann lived
a few miles from Keokuk Junction and a manual search of census records starting
in that area would have located him in relatively short order.
How Did I Find These Records?
To find this record on Johann, I used the grantor index to land records starting
approximately in 1869. Even though two grantors are listed on the deed (Johann
and Noentje) the deed only appears in the grantor index once.
How Did Johann Get The Land?
Finding one deed always brings to mind another question: where's the other one?
This deed I located involved John as a grantor. I now needed to find where he
obtained the property and was hoping he purchased it directly (resulting in
a deed), instead of inheriting the property (which might not have necessitated
a deed). In this case, a search for Johann was conducted in the grantee's index
beginning ca. 1880 and working backwards. After some time, a reference was located.
Johann Buys The Property
Hancock County, Illinois, Recorder, Deed Book 98, page 598
(a summary)
Lubbe U. Albers and Ehe M. Albers, husband and wife, of Kansas City, Missouri
(late of Adams County, Illinois) sell to John Ufkes of Hancock County, Illinois,
the mill in Basco [same legal description as previous reference]. The consideration
is $566.33. The deed was drawn up and signed by both the Albers on 23 September
1879 after Ufkes had paid a mortgage to the Albers for the same property that
was dated 23 January 1879. The deed was acknowledged in front of F. M. Harrison,
a notary public in Jackson County, Missouri, on 7 Oct 1879 and recorded in Hancock
County, Illinois on 13 October 1879.
Why No Noentje?
Noentje appears on the deed where Johann sells the property in order to give
up her dower interest in the property. Noentje's release of dower is necessary
even though she does not appear as a grantee on the deed where Johann obtains
the property. She had a dower interest in the property as she was married to
Johann at the time he acquired the property.
Owned A Mill?
This was the only reference that I had to the fact that Johann owned a mill
early in his marriage. This piece of information had not been passed down in
the family. Apparently he did not own the mill for long and sold it for less
than he paid for it. According to the records he sold the property for $241.33
less than he paid for it and only owned it from January of 1879 to October of
1880. This would amount to an approximately 43 percent loss on the property.
Are there possibly clues in your background lingering in the pages of old deed
books?
Online References:
Bureau of Land Management
www.glorecords.blm.gov/Visitors/
Look in the "background" section for information on how land is described
and measuring systems.
"Where Did the Farm Go?"
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A018401
This article provides a discussion of land record indexing and record searching
techniques in federal land states.
"N-S-E-W"
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A349801
This article provides additional discussion of land records and a general overview
of determining where a family lived in a federal land state.
"Lots of Leads from a Little Lot"
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=A557001
An analysis of a post-death sale of a lot and house in Davenport, Iowa.
Printed References
For a detailed reference on land and property records in the United States:
Land & Property Research in the United States, by E. Wade Hone
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P2125
For a more general overview of land records in the United States:
The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, edited by Loretto D. Szucs
and Sandra H. Luebking
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1026
For more information on county record offices and locations:
Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, edited
by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D.
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P2113
Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute
of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois, and is also on
the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the
Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois
State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a
wide variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to several
genealogical publications, including Ancestry and Genealogical Computing.
You can e-mail him at: mneill@asc.csc.cc.il.us
or visit his website at: www.rootdig.com/,
but he regrets that he is unable to assist with personal research.
Copyright 2002, MyFamily.com.
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