Dan Crumpton of Warrenton just published another volume in his series about Georgia’s land records.
“Wilkes County, Georgia, Land Records, Volume One” covers plats and maps and other data related to the original Wilkes County, created in 1777 and including 15 of Georgia’s current counties.
The majority of this volume consists of Crumpton piecing together original plats into maps, so you can see where your ancestors lived, their neighbors, roads and streams. Overall, like his other works, it’s an amazing undertaking by an expert on land research and plats. Many plats are highlighted on single pages.
The second major section contains Georgia Department of Transportation county maps showing and cross-referencing these same areas on modern maps.
There is a full-name index to people, as well as separate indexes to creeks, roads, other water features, counties, districts and towns.
There is much to be learned in using this book. I found that my Revolutionary era ancestor Joel King’s land grant was adjacent to a road, something I didn’t previously know.
This volume is available for $75 plus $10 postage from Dan Crumpton, P.O. Box 47, Warrenton, GA 30828. See crumptonplats.com for his other books on Burke, Jefferson, Warren and Richmond counties, and to search plats by name, chain bearers and other associated names.
Source of citations
Citing sources for a genealogy project is important. Elizabeth Shown Mills, long an expert in the field, has now now published a pair of two-page Quick Sheets that would be good additions for your research kit.
The first, “Your Stripped-Bare Guide to Citing Sources,” lists types of sources, such as a periodical article, a book or a website, and what needs to be in your citation. The reverse includes a worksheet format.
The second Quick Sheet is “Your Stripped-Bare Guide to Historical Proof,” which covers evaluating your evidence in three parts: the sources, the information it contains, and the processing of the information.
The publications are $6.95 each. Ordered together, postage is $7. They are available from the Genealogical Publishing Co., 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211, or call 1-800-296-6687 or go to genealogical.com.
Age of majority
An ancestor’s appearance in a record could be an age clue, since at 14 one could witness some documents, and at 21 one had to pay a poll or head tax. For some lotteries, one could register at age 18.
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