Take Inspiration From A Georgian
Freda R. Turner has accomplished something for which all genealogists should be grateful and inspires us to follow her footsteps.
She abstracted and published all the wills and deeds from her county - Greene County, Georgia - from 1785 to 1810.
Oh, that similar inspiration and dedication might strike more folks to do the same kind of projects to the benefit of genealogists everywhere.
“Greene County, Georgia, Wills, 1786-1877” gives highlights of the first 91 years of wills for this northeastern Georgia county.
Established in 1786, land was distributed to settlers who would move in quickly in an effort to increase protection of life and property from the Creek and Cherokee Indians. Hundreds of Revolutionary War veterans, penniless from the war and without any monetary reimbursement from the government, were granted land in the area that would become Georgia.
A great many of these settlers came from Virginia. Their hard-won land was often carefully detailed and passed down in thousands of wills still existing in the Georgia Archives in Atlanta.
“Greene County, Georgia, Land Record Deeds 1785-1810” is a 652-page hardbound book giving all the land information from the county’s 11 deed books that span 25 years of the county’s earliest history.
Bounty grants of 287 acres of land were made to Revolutionary War veterans and civilians under the headright system.
The state surveyor enticed settlers to move in as soon as possible to increase protection from the Indians who were righteously outraged at having their land taken from them. Thousands of settlers accepted the offer.
The wills book are available for $25, plus $2.50 postage, and the deeds book for $40, plus $3 postage. Send orders to Freda R. Turner, P.O. Box 1054, 559 Jerry Steele Lane, McDonough, GA 30253-7510.
Thanks, Freda, and may your genealogy work ethic spread to more folks, including us.
A project is underway to identify the remaining living children of Civil War veterans and to locate Oklahoma burial sites of both Union and Confederate veterans.
The Oklahoma Confederate Archives, a nonprofit Civil War research organization, is compiling the information which will eventually be made available for historical and genealogical research.
It’s hoped descendents of Civil War veterans will submit information concerning the Oklahoma burial locations of their ancestors. Names of the veteran and his wife are sought, plus full dates and places, the unit in which he served, the type of headstone and the cemetery’s name and location.
If you have such information, please send it to the Oklahoma Confederate Archives, P.O. Box 691921, Tulsa, OK 74169-1921. They accept e-mail questions at macroute@juno.com>.
Today’s Tip: Did you know that 26 states now have some vital records available on the internet? The states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont.
Today’s Smile: Last February, Sotherbys in New York City auctioned off nearly 3,000 items that once belonged to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. A piece of their wedding cake sold for $29,000.