"Luther Tibbetts bought a farm." These simple words begin a tale that unfolds for more than a century. The tale includes celebrations of births and weddings, somber seasons of death, happy moments of newlyweds and aging couples lounging on the porch swing, stepmothers and maiden aunts preparing picnics on the lawn, children roller skating down the lane, and fathers building a garage to fit the new family car. All are details to a story. A family saga? No, the history of a house.

Houses and the land they stand upon have histories, just as individuals and families have. And family historians can learn a variety of things when tracing the history of a house ranging from new perspectives on land records, in particular the function and significance of the chain of title, to a greater understanding of the key role of physical surroundings in the lives of one’s ancestors.

The initial search in tracing the history of a house usually involves checking recorded land records held by the county in which the property is located. These can generally be found in the county clerk’s office or in the county recorder’s office. In many cases, they have been microfilmed and appear in the Family History Library Catalog, usually under land records or as deed books.¹ These records are then used to construct a chain of title–the connections from each individual owner running back over time to the original purchase or grant from the sovereign, the king of Spain, France, Sweden, Holland, or England.

The tracing of the house history begins with a search of the Grantee Index of the Official Land Records of Riverside County, California. Proceeding backward, we find documents for the following transactions:

• 14 June 1976: Andrew and Diane Roth purchase the property from Paul Scott Hubbard and Susan F. Hubbard.²

• 18 March 1975: Paul Scott Hubbard and Susan F. Hubbard purchase the property from Ronald C. Youngs and Patricia H. Youngs.³

• 15 July 1968: Ronald C. Youngs and Patricia H. Youngs purchase the property from Peter C. Van Etten and Charlotte M. Van Etten.⁴

• 27 March 1950: Peter G. Van Etten and Charlotte M. Van Etten purchase the property from Charles W. Knowles and Vera A. Knowles.⁵

• 2 April 1928: Flora Knowles grants to her husband several pieces of property including, Lots 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 in Block 4 of the Tibbets Tract.⁶

• 27 June 1919: "Charles W. Knowles et ux purchased the property from J.D. Ogden." The deed indicates that the parties purchasing the property were "Charles W. Knowles and Flora Knowles, his wife, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, and not as tenants in common." J.D. Ogden is described as a widower and resident of the city of Riverside, county of Riverside, state of California.⁷

• 7 October 1915: J.D. Ogden purchases from Frank L. Worley et ux (identified as Minnie S. Worley, his wife) the full portion of property described above, as well as other pieces of property not connected with this property.⁸

• 4 March 1914: Frank L. Worley purchases the full property from F.W. Stalder and Mary E. Stalder.⁹

• 3 September 1903: F.W. Stalder purchases from O. Newburg a substantial portion of the Tibbets Tract, including all of Blocks 4, 5, and 6. Note that the property at the corner of Palm and Central, now identified as 6608 Palm Avenue, represents only two lots out of Block 4. O. Newburg, the grantor, is identified as the duly appointed, qualified, and acting executor of the Last Will and Testament of Lewis Jacobs, deceased, and F.W. Stalder is listed as a resident of the County of Riverside. (Note that he is not specifically listed as a resident of the city of Riverside.) Unlike most deeds, which list sale price as "for $10 and such other valuable consideration," this deed lists the sales price as "$3,770 gold coin of the United States."¹⁰ Immediately preceding this document is a copy of the court order dated 20 June 1903, wherein the judge in the probate court has approved this sale by executor O. Newburg.¹¹

• 9 June 1903: Oscar Newburg, as executor of the estate of Lewis Jacobs, records with the county of Riverside a map of the Tibbets Tract showing a subdivision of the West Half of the Southwest Quarter of Section 34 in Township 2 South Range 5 West, San Bernardino Baseline and Meridian. That map shows Lots 8 and 9 of Block 4 at the corner of Central Avenue and Palm Avenue.¹²

• 31 August 1897: James Miller, a commissioner appointed by the Superior Court in the case of J. F. Noughton et al versus Luther C. Tibbets, sells the property described above to Lewis Jacobs. The documents indicate that there was a judgment against Luther and Eliza Tibbets dated 14 December 1896 in foreclosure on said property.¹³

• December 12, 1879: Luther C. Tibbets transfers to Eliza M. Tibbets, his wife, in consideration of his "love and affection" and for her "maintenance, support, protection, and livelihood," the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 34 Township 2 South Range 3 West of the San Bernardino Baseline and Meridian.¹⁴

• November 10, 1879: Luther Tibbets purchased the property from United States Government.¹⁵

From that point, tracing the property history is a matter of tracing United States and world history. The U.S. Government acquired title to the land from the Mexican Government pursuant to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. And the Mexican Government acquired the land from the Spanish Crown by the Treaty of Cordoba in 1821.¹⁶ This series of title transfers represents the chain of title running back unbroken from the 1982 purchaser to the king of Spain.

1. Each property has a unique description known as the legal description. This is in addition to the common postal address of street name and number that identifies most pieces of real property. The legal description will be recorded in one of three ways:

• By metes and bounds. This common form of describing real property, predominant in the original thirteen colonies, as well as in Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, and Vermont, usually combines degree references with physical landmarks and measurements. This format is also used in other states in conjunction with one or both of the methods below to describe the division of part of a lot.¹⁷

• By reference to rectangular government surveys. All of the states, except those referred to above and Texas,¹⁸ use a federal rectangular survey system to describe the location of real property. In each case, there is a center point where a baseline and a meridian line cross for survey purposes. From that point, townships and ranges are measured out in square units of six miles by six miles, which are known as townships. Each township has been divided up into thirty-six one-mile square sections, and each section is subsequently divided up into quarter sections, half sections, or quarter sections of quarter sections.¹⁹

• By reference to lots or blocks on a recorded tract map. Used in most urban areas, this system involves a map showing division into lots that is submitted to the county; it covers a piece of property previously described by metes and bounds or by reference to the rectangular survey. Known as plat maps or tract maps, these become the permanent reference point for future sales of property related to that particular area.

The legal description may also contain certain references to property vacated to the city or property conveyed to the city. These transfers usually refer to portions of the property taken by the city for roads or for sewer, water, or utility easements.²⁰

2. Being aware of the specific property transferred is essential to tracing the chain of title and knowing whether to look for other recorded documents. Very frequently in a chain of title for specific lots, one finds that these lots were part of a larger parcel of land. Researchers should be able to find collateral chains of title for these extra lots as they are transferred. To more easily follow these land sales, obtain a copy of the county assessor’s map. These maps generally show the lot line divisions, allowing the researcher to plot the specific lots referred to. Alternatively, one can trace the lots based upon the descriptions only, or with a copy of the recorded tract map ordered from the recorder’s office.

3. Searching for transactions where an individual is the grantor of property can yield additional information. In this sample chain of title, only the Grantee Index was searched to find each document. A subsequent search of the Grantor Index for those individuals who have owned the property will assist in finding sales or transfers of pieces of larger lots. For example, a number of references were found where Charles Knowles appears as the grantor. To determine which lots made up the property purchased from J.D. Ogden, the legal descriptions on each of the Grantor Index references were checked. This search revealed several other properties he had sold as well.

4. As a general rule, a person does not disappear from the chain of title without some document removing that person, nor does one appear without a document adding that person. For the researcher, this means that for each person appearing as an owner of real property there should be at least two documents where the owner appears: once as transferee of the property and once as transferor. Exceptions to the rule,²¹ though rare, do exist, however, and should be kept in mind.

As an example of what can be found with further searching, note that the names of the wives of Charles Knowles are different in the two documents that appear in the chain of title–Flora in the purchase of 1919 and Vera in the sale of 1950. In the sale of 1938, no wife is mentioned. A careful reading of the deed transferring the Tibbets Tract properties in April 1928 explains this omission.²² A portion of the lot in Block 4 that faces Central Avenue was not transferred. A further search for Flora Knowles in the Grantor Index yields the Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant.²³ This document shows that Charles Knowles removed the name of Flora Knowles from the Central Avenue lot as well as other properties they owned jointly, by reporting her death in 1934. A copy of her death certificate is attached, showing her father as J.D. Ogden and her birthplace as Kansas.

The appearances as transferee and transferor may be separated by many years, such as the thirty-one years between the Charles K. Knowles acquisition and transfer. During the years between acquisition and transfer, an incredible variety of other records can appear in official land records. Such documents include but are not limited to quit claim deeds, affidavits of death of joint tenant, mortgages, lis pendens, release of lis pendens, satisfactions or discharges of mortgage, tax liens, notices of completion, plat or tract maps, administrator’s deeds, patents, receiver’s receipts, dedications and surveys, decrees of distribution, wills, partial releases of mortgage, court decrees re: quiet title action, partitions of lands, court orders re: partition, deeds of trust, and affidavits of death of life tenant.

5. Always read the full document for important details. Signatures on all documents to be recorded must be notarized. While often routine, sometimes the notarization can give important clues as to the whereabouts of the parties. For example, the notarizations in the sale of the property by the Whorleys to J.D. Ogden show that Minnie S. Worley has signed the document in Riverside California, but Frank Worley signed in front of a notary in Neosho County, Kansas. Later research revealed that he had moved there. Subsequent research did not reveal any evidence of J.D. Ogden, Charles Knowles, or Flora Knowles in California before 1915 (when J.D. Ogden bought the Palm Avenue property); knowing Flora was born in Kansas, it is likely that J.D. Ogden bought the property from Frank while both were still in Kansas. Thus, the first place one should look in the 1910 census for J.D., Charles, or Flora is in Neosho County, Kansas, or a neighboring county.

6. Land records often include copies from or references to court cases. Two such items appear in our sample chain of title: 1) the probate court approval of the sale of the property by the executor of the estate of Lewis Jacobs, and 2) the judgment in the lawsuit against Luther Tibbets and subsequent sale of his property by the court-appointed commissioner. Each of these opens up a new category of records to search for in the records of the Riverside County Superior Court.

7. All land titles trace back to the English, Spanish, French, Swedish, or Dutch crowns. Many trace back to a direct grant of land from one of these monarchs to an individual, such as William Penn. Others trace back to the sale or free transfer to individuals by the United States Government, which received the land by treaty from the English, French, or Spanish crowns. Such was the case for Luther Tibbets, who received his land from the government under the Homestead Act (his land patent²⁴ references a file with the application and proof of homestead in the record of the United States in the General Land Office for Los Angeles). If, however, the Tibbets property had been only one township north, south, or west, it would have been part of the Jurupa or La Sierra land grants made by the Spanish Government at the end of the colonial period and confirmed by the United Land Commission in 1869.²⁵ There are extensive files in the records of the Land Commission, as well as in state and local records, for such land grants.²⁶

In many cases the residents, in a home are not synonymous with the owners of the home. City directories can help to further trace those who have lived in the house–tenants, other family members, etc. In the Riverside City Directory for 1917, Charles Knowles, identified as a building contractor, and Flora Knowles appear residing in the home at 6608 Palm for the first time.²⁸ Jefferson D. Ogden also appears as a resident at that address in the Riverside City Directory in 1917.²⁹ The relationship between J.D. Ogden and Charles and Flora Knowles becomes clear in an affidavit of death of joint tenant for Flora; it indicates that J.D. Ogden was her father. This explains why Charles and Flora occupied the home for four years before actually becoming title owners to the property.

Combining the use of city directories with a good map of the city, such as the county assessor’s map, can allow you to identify individuals living within the city who may be related. For example, the 1922 city directory listed two other Knowles families, including a Martha E. Knowles, widow of Thomas, residing in a home at 114 East Central Avenue. A check of the street list in the directory of that year revealed that 114 Central Avenue was the first house east of Palm Avenue, built on the narrow, forty-one-foot-wide lot running behind the property at 6608 Palm Avenue.³⁰ As was discovered above, Charles Knowles owned that property. A later physical inspection of the property revealed that the two garages had been physically connected with a small shed, further indicating the close relationship of the parties and the complete ownership of the property by Charles Knowles. And while the land records do not so state this, it seems likely that Martha Knowles was either the mother or sister-in-law of Charles. One could search census and vital records to determine her age and verify her relationship to Charles.

City directories can also provide information as to the business activities of residents of a house. For instance, one directory related to this chain of title shows advertising and references to the business activities of Frederick W. Stalder. These appeared in several city directories of that time period.³¹

Building Permits. Every city and county maintains a file on each property with copies of building permits. Those for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries provide information concerning the date the original buildings were erected, as well as major structural changes on the property. Before the adoption of the current system of filing copies of building permits in a file by address, many cities kept a logbook of building permits issued. Building permit files and logbooks are public records and can usually be consulted by individuals at the office of the city or county in which the building is located, although often the oldest have been transferred to a local history museum or historical archives.

As an example of documentation of structural changes, the Riverside City Building Permit Logbook for the year 1907 shows that F.W. Stalder, the original builder of the home at 6608 Palm Avenue, erected a barn in that year. On the right of this document the inspection dates for both the foundation and the building are given, along with remarks in some cases. A perusal of the column labeled "Character of Building" shows the building of cottages, an adobe house, a brick chimney, a screened room, a wood shed, several barns, and various alterations.

Other information is on public record as well. When street addresses changed, the new addresses have been noted in the book for many of the pieces of property. Changes in street addresses are often best traced through city directories. Also, building permits for 6608 Palm show that through the years, in addition to the barn, a garage was added in 1910, a pool in the 1950s, and a handball court in the 1970s, as well as some type of interior alteration having a value of about $200 in 1940.³²

Court Records. House historians also value court records. In cases where the title of the property is affected, one may find a lis pendens. Recorded with the land records, this is a notice that a lawsuit that affects title to the property has been filed with the court. Documents that relate specifically to the property, and even the buildings on it, appear in probate court actions, suits for partition of land, suits with the city concerning rights of way on roads or sewer easements, and sale and seizure of land by creditors or municipal entities. Probate inventories are of particular value because they include a detailed list of the furniture and other personal items in the home of the deceased. These can reveal much about daily life in the home.

Vital Records. Birth records for the house at 6608 Palm Avenue revealed that two children were born in the home to its first occupants, Frederick and Mary Stalder. Death records revealed that J.D. Ogden died in the home in 1925 of a cerebral hemorrhage. The death record of Flora Knowles from 1934 showed that she had also died in the home. Vital records are usually found in the county offices, although in some states they may only be located or searchable through the State Department of Health or Vital Statistics.

U.S. Government Land Records. The United States Government, as well as many of the states, sold or transferred for free millions of acres of land throughout the United States. Homesteads were given to encourage settlement. Bounty lands were given to reward military service. The United States also created commissions to confirm the land claims of persons owning land in areas transferred to the United States by treaties with Spain, Mexico, France, and England. These records and their use are described in a number of different sources.³³

Local Histories. Histories have been published concerning many, if not most, of the cities and counties in the United States. Especially during the period 1870 to 1900, large numbers of city and county histories were prepared. Often these histories give detailed discussion of particular residences in the city and the families that occupied them. Other city histories contain photograph collections of homes, businesses, and residents in the area. The best place to check for such histories would be at the local city library, or at a local city museum or historical association.³⁴

Insurance Maps. At the end of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, the Sanborn Company published detailed maps of cities showing not only lots, but also houses and outbuildings on those lots. These can provide a glimpse of the physical arrangement of the property at the time the map was drawn. Comparing the maps from different time periods shows the changes in physical environment, such as the widening of roads and the covering of streams, which took place as America moved from a rural to an urban environment during this period.³⁵

Newspapers. If one is willing to take the time to search, local newspapers can provide social highlights about family members, obituaries, and notices concerning the issuance of building permits, as well as the involvement of the families in local affairs of the city, county, and state. Read the advertisements as well. The prices of bread, milk, hats, kerosene, and coal all provide insight into daily life. Newspapers are often best consulted in a local city or county library where there may be a locally prepared, unpublished index. Fortunately, however, most newspapers in the United States are available on microfilm or microfiche. ³⁶

Other Published Materials. Look for contemporary published materials used in daily life. Books and magazines, such as women’s magazines, decorating guides, cookbooks, and advertising catalogs, can all provide insight into daily life in the home. An essential reference work for reconstructing daily life in the house at 6608 Palm Avenue was the use of a reproduction of the 1908 Sears and Roebuck Catalog.³⁷ The detailed advertisements that in the earliest years of this century intrigued and stimulated consumer interests throughout America, today provide a glimpse of an era very different from our own as to the clothing and products used on a daily basis. For the United States before 1820, the Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker Early American Imprints microfiche collections contain all materials published before 1820, including local histories, directories, sermons, cookbooks, and other valuable publications.³⁸

Other Record Sources. Be creative while investigating in the local offices of a city or county. When looking at building permit files, inquiries should be made to see if there are other files for the city or county. In some cases, separate files were maintained for acquisition of city easements, installation of sewers, and other types of city activities. Many cities and counties also maintain tax assessor’s lists, which will identify the value associated with the properties at a particular time. And when building permit records provide the name of an architect, it may be possible to locate the records for that architect; he or she may have even saved copies of the original plans.

Further inspection led to other discoveries. One of the small pantry closets off the kitchen was made of eight inches of adobe (used on all of the walls and on the ceiling to keep food products cool in the hot California summer before refrigeration). Physical inspection of the outside property revealed the location of the original barn. And a shed connecting to the garage on the next property, a home facing Central Avenue, provided additional evidence of the original joint ownership of the two properties and their use by Charlie Knowles and family.

Often traces will be found of foundations, backways, and other remains on an older piece of property. As areas are dug out for new sprinkling systems, driveways, etc., evidence of former plantings and physical changes in the layout of the property may be discovered. All of this contributes to a history of the house, giving ideas concerning the various uses of the property.

Oral Interviews. Those researching the history of a house during the late nineteenth and/or twentieth centuries should try to interview and record family members who have resided in the home, or whose parents or other relatives did so.³⁹

An interview with ninety-year-old Edna Yeager, the daughter of Frederick and Mary Stalder, provided great insight into the building and use of the 6608 Palm Avenue property during their residence. She talked about roller skating on the wide front porch, walking a block and one half to catch the trolley car to "downtown Riverside," and the births of her two younger brothers in the area behind where the kitchen stove had been. This discussion prompted us to look again at the layout of the kitchen. Evidence in the floorboards showed that the door between the kitchen and dining room had been moved three feet after the elimination of an old wood-burning stove. Mrs. Yeager also explained that the house had not been built with a fireplace because the back parlor had held a large Franklin-type stove.

Interviews with a niece of Charles and Flora Knowles who had resided in the home provided information concerning the addition on the second floor in 1940. Charles Knowles had remarried, and his new wife and her mother had come to live in the house. The kitchen built in the new addition on the second floor was for Charles’ new mother-in-law. The niece also recounted that J.D. Ogden had been kicked by a horse while in the barn, which caused his death in bed in the upper back bedroom five days later.

Photographs. As you interview members of the family, inquire about the existence of old photographs. Show those that have already been obtained to the family member in the hope of eliciting further comments from them. The various photos collected in researching our sample chain of title show changes in the house, as well as in individual residents, from the history of 6608 Palm Avenue.

In addition to family members, many local museums, libraries, and historical associations maintain a photograph file. When visiting these local facilities, always inquire about photos of the property you are researching. Also ask for photographs that illustrate community surroundings, such as schools, the city hall, town squares, and other public institutions and area businesses. Such photographs enrich the history of the house by providing a sense of the historical milieu in which the individual residents lived.

1. The word "deed" is accurate in this regard, if used in its broader sense, as "an instrument or document." When limited to its more common usage of "a conveyance or grant of real property," it describes the large majority of the documents in the recorder's office, but not, by any means, the full variety of such documents. It is that variety that we will explore. Black, Henry Campbell. Black’s Law Dictionary (St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1968) 4th ed., p. 502.
2. Official Records, County of Riverside, California, Book 1975, p.65753.
3. Ibid, Book 1976, p. 111296.
4. Ibid, 1968, p. 91972. Note that et ux is a Latin phrase meaning "and wife," often used in the captions of documents.
5. Ibid, Book 1163, p.471.
6. Ibid, Book 391, p. 217.
7. Ibid, Book 508, p. 302.
8. Ibid, Book 439, p. 197.
9. Ibid, Book 390, p. 140.
10. Ibid, Book 174, p. 83.
11. Ibid, Book 174, p. 81.
12. Maps, Book 4, p. 91, County of Riverside, California.
13. Official Records, County of Riverside, California, Book 31, p. 392.
14. Deeds, County of San Bernardino, California, Book 23, p. 60. Note that all research in records from before 1893, when Riverside County was organized, was done in the Historical Archives of San Bernardino County, the parent county of the northern part of Riverside County.
15. Land Patents, County of San Bernardino, California, Book B, p. 88.
16. Michael C. Meyer and William L. Sherman, The Course of Mexican History (New York: Oxford Press, 1995), 296 and 351-352.
17. Elliot, Werdy, "Texas," in Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1998).
18. Eichholz, Alice, ed. Ancestry’s Redbook American State County and Local Records (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997), 61-62; and Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Sandra Hargreaves Leubking, eds., The Source, Rev. Ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992), 705-706.
19. Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Sandra Hargreaves Leubking, eds., The Source, Rev. Ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992), 248-255.
20. An easement is the right to use a part of the property for a particular purpose, such as for a road or to run a sewer under the ground, while the remainder of the ownership and use of the property stays with the current owner.
21. After a thorough search, no grantor or grantee index entry was found that shows that Charles added Vera to the title after they were married. This may be an example of one exception to the two appearances for each person in the chain of title rule. In community property states, a spouse not otherwise on title may sign a deed thereby releasing any community property interest that may have been created during marriage. Similarly, in common law states, this approach may be used to waive dower or curtesy rights although there should be language to that effect in the deed. A quit claim deed is often used to accomplish the same result.
A second example of such omission, more common in deeds before 1900, involves passing the property to family members, sometimes for more than a generation without recording the changes in title. In most such cases when the new title owner records his ownership, not infrequently when the subsequent owner sells the property, the deed will contains a reference such as "this being the same property purchased by my father James Smith from whom I inherited it upon his death."
22. One should note that this 1928 deed was not recorded until 1838 and ask why. It may provide clues as to activities or conditions of the family at that time.
23. Official Records, County of Riverside, California, Book 409, p. 354, et seq.
24. See Note 14 and accompanying text.
25. Jurupa Land Grant Map, Maps of County of San Bernrdino, California, Book 1, Page 41; La Sierra Land Grant Map, Ibid, Page 47.
26.John W. Pirsson, The Dutch Grants, Harlem Patents and Tidal Creeks (New York: L.K. Strouse & Co., 1889), 1-8; S. L. Mershon, English Crown Grants (New York: Law and Historical society, 1918); Jacob N. Bowman, "California Private Land Grant Records in the National Archives" (24 Jan. 1956. Photostat of typescript, National Archives Library), "Index of Private of California" and "Index of the Spanish-Mexican Private Land Grant Records and Cases of California" (Berkeley, 1958. Photocopy of typescript in the National Archives; original in the Bancroft Library, University of California); Calendar to the Land Grants and Land Grant Papers (1942, Manuscript in the Bancroft Library, University Microfilm Edition of the Land Records of New Mexico. New Mexico State Records Center and Archives: Santa Fe, 1987); California State Library, "Index to Spanish Archives on File in the State Library, XIV-Spanish Archives Collected in Monterey in 1851, by Order of the Legislature," In The United States, Appellant. U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 424: The United States v. Jose Y. Limantour; Transcript of the Record from the Board of United States Land Commissioners, in Case. No. 548 Filed February 19, 1856 (San Francisco: Whitton, Towne & Co. Excelsior Steam Presses, 1857), 267-272; Surveyor General of California. "Corrected Report of Spanish and Mexican Grants in California, Complete to February 25, 1886," Report of the Surveyor-General of the State of California, from August 1, 1884, to August 1, 1886, Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assemble of the Twenty-Seventh Session . . . (Sacramento: 1887), 1:11-29; James S. Stratton, "Report of Spanish or Mexican Grants in California," Report of the Surveyor-General of the State of California, from August 1st, 1879, to August 1st, 1880. Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twenty-Fourth Session (Sacramento: California Legislature, 1881.), 1:15-54; Glenn R. Conrad, ed., Land Records of the Attakapas District, vol. 1, The Attakapas Domesday Book: Land Grants, Claims, and Confirmations in the Attakapas District, 1764-1826 (Lafayette, LA: Center for Louisiana Studies, 1990.); Winston De Ville, Louisiana and Mississippi Lands: A guide to Spanish Land Grants at the University of Michigan (Ville Platte, La.: Evangeline Gen. and Hist. Soc., 1985); Albert J. Diaz, Guide to the Microfilm of Papers Relating to New Mexico Land Grants (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1960); Carolyn R. Ericson, Abstract of All Original Texas Land Titles Comprising Grants and Locations to August 31, 1841 (St Louis: C.R. Ericson, 1981); Guide to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in South Texas (Austin, Texas: Texas General Land Office, 1988); Historical Records Survey, Work Projects Administration, Spanish Land Grants in Florida, 5 vols, (Tallahassee: Bureau of State Lands, 1941); Ogden Hoffman, "Table of Land Claims, Presented to the Commissions Pursuant to the Provisions of the Act of Congress of March 3rd, 1851, Entitled 'An Act to Ascertain and Settle the Private Land Claims in the State of California,'" Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Appendix 1 (San Francisco, 1862); Microfilm Publications Concerning Spanish Land Grant Claims (San Bruno, California: Federal Archives Land Records Center); David J. Miller, "Private Land Claims [Adjudicated]; Private Land Claims Not Yet Adjudicated," in New Mexico (Territory), Secretary's Office. The Legislative Blue-Book of the Territory of New Mexico (Santa Fe: Charles W. Greene, Public Printer, 1882), 129-34; Virginia H. Taylor, trans. and ed., Index to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in Texas (Austin, TX. : Lone Star Press, 1974); Ennis M. Tipton, Index to U.S. Tract Books, Northwestern Land District (Old Natchitoches District) in the Louisiana State Land Office, Baton Rouge Louisiana (Bossier City, La.: Tipton Print. and Pub. Co., 1980); U.S. National Archives, "Alphabetical Index to the California Board of Land Commissioners Expedientes for Private Land Claims Dockets," Records of the General Land Office, Record Group 49 (Washington, D.C.: Typescript, 1969); U.S. Surveyor General of California, "Catalogue of the Original Expedientes of Records in Relation to Land Claims in Upper California under the Spanish and Mexican Governments, with References to Registries of the Same, Arranged in Alphabetical Order, Now on File in the Spanish Archives of the Office of the United States Surveyor-General for California," "Alphabetical List of Approvals of Grants of Land, by the Departmental Assembly of California, Recorded in the Book of Sessions" and "Alphabetical List of Names of Ranchos, the Claims of Which Have Been Acted upon by the Former Governments," U.S. Department of the Interior, Annual Report, 1880 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880), 859-916; U.S. Surveyor General of New Mexico, "List of Documents Relating to Grants of Land by the Spanish and Mexican Governments in the Archives of the Office of the Surveyor-General of New Mexico, June 30, 1855" and "Private Land Claims against the Public Domain in New Mexico on File in the Office [of the] United States Surveyor-General for New Mexico, June 30, 1855," U.S. Department of the Interior, Annual Report, 1855 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1885), 1:535-52 and 554-561; U.S. Surveyor General of New Mexico, "Schedule of Documents Relating to Grants of Land by the Spanish and Mexican Governments, Forming the Archives of the Surveyor General of New Mexico - Abstract of the Grants of Lands Selected from the Public Records of the Territory, Found in the Archives of Santa Fe, New Mexico," U.S. Department of the Interior, Annual Report, 1856 (Washington, D.C.: A.O.P. Nicholson Printer, 1856), 413-39.
27. Baltimore City Directory, 1796, microfiche edition in Early American Imprints.
28. Riverside City and County Directory 1917 (Los Angeles: Riverside Directory Company, 1917.), 147.
29. Ibid, page 186.
30. Riverside City Directory, Los Angeles: Los Angeles Directory Company, 1923, p. 218.
31. See Note 27.
32. Permit File for 6608 Palm Ave., Building Department, City of Riverside, California (Loose documents without page numbers).
33. Hone, 3-56.
34. Meyerink, Kory L., Printed Sources, A Guide to Published Genealogical Sources, 627-669, (Salt Lake City, Ancestry, 1998).
35. Ibid 110
36. Check the Family History Library Catalog under "United States—Newspapers" for other catalogs and indexes to newspapers.
37. Schroder, Joseph J., Jr. Sears Roebuck & Co. 1908 Catalogue, No. 117. The Great Pricemaker, Chicago: The Gun Digest Company, 1964.
38. Evans, Charles. The American Bibliography.
39. Swisher, Linda Herrick. "Oral Histories: Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days." Ancestry 12:10-15 (Jul/Aug 1994).