Back in 1855 when the state of Utah was getting organized, the Salt Lake Meridian was established and it was from this very point that the entire state of Utah was surveyed. The stone post in this photo is essentially the center of Utah, and the baseline (or latitude) and meridian (longitude) is still surveyed from here. This was an accurate way to survey land, as opposed to the system used by the original thirteen colonies, that of metes and bounds. With metes and bounds, the description of … [Read more...]

We've recently been helping a client discover more about an ancestor who lived in North Carolina in the mid- to late-1700s. Southern U.S. research that's this early requires a careful look at existing documents, especially since often there aren't nearly as many documents available as there are for the mid- to late-1800s. We were happy to find that this particular ancestor had received a state land grant from North Carolina so we could obtain more information about him as we searched for the … [Read more...]

Deeds, and land records in general, can provide helpful pieces to the puzzle you are trying to solve about your United States ancestor. They are especially helpful in areas or time periods where few records of other types are available, like the southern United States before 1850.Most counties and some towns in the United States kept deed books, recording the ownership of land in their jurisdiction. A person would present a land grant patent or title to the county or town clerk who would … [Read more...]