This is another item I found using the Full Text Search at FamilySearch. I normally wouldn't be searching deeds for these men, but my ancestor John Holmes and a person of interest, Elisha Morris, both show up as witnesses to the deed. I'll put abstracted data below...
I found this deed using FamilySearch's new AI Full-Text Search tool. I was searching for "Elisha Morris" and I set the place to North Carolina and I stumbled on this. (Actually, I had tried a variety of counties because I've found the AI sometimes gets confused about...
https://youtu.be/ZLIW2EOkQNE Have you ever wondered where your ancestors lived? Delving into historical land deeds can unlock a wealth of information about their property and lives. This guide — which has been put together to add written instructions to the techniques...
About a week ago, I was poking around in Currituck County land records. I don't even remember why. While skimming through the index, I stumbled over something, or someone, unexpected. John Vindrick! That's right! A Vendrick in Currituck. I was every bit as astonished...
Samuel Lawson received a deed of gift from his stepfather, John James, 25 May 1770. In the deed, Mr. James uses a phrase that, both baffles and intrigues me. From Craven County Deed Book 18, p. 1 and 2 (emphasis mine). North Carolina }Craven County }To all People to...
Boaz Squires is a rather enigmatic figure. Appropriate, wouldn't you say, for a man legend says was a wizard? Local stories claim he was a rather lazy fellow who made demons build boats while he lounged beneath the pines smoking his pipe. He even fought the Devil,...
There were, demonstrably, two William Brights living within, what was then, Craven County during the mid 1700s. Look at the Petition to Change the Seat of Government of 1733. Among the signatories of this document were William Brite and William Bright. So, how do we...
While Ancestry is notorious for spreading false information, you should also be wary of Find-a-Grave (link to her page). Remember, both sites depend on users, who are human, to create family trees/bios. Always, always, always check the facts against contemporary...
Researcher Sherry Mirkovic had done extensive research on Rowland Ledbetter and his parentage several years ago. My cousin Mike Morris and I both wound up with a document she had prepared with all of her Rowland data and it strongly suggested that John Ledbetter was...
The word "brother-in-law" is becoming the bane of my research. In earlier times, the term "in-law" had a broader scope than is now the case. Pretty much anyone related to you by marriage was an in-law. Therefore, a brother-in-law could be one in the modern sense, a...
A really cool feature of the Duplin County Register of Deeds site, duplinrod.com, is the land grant map. How many times have you read a grant or deed and tried to figure out where the land was located? Well, when it comes to grants made in Duplin County and are now...
I found this deed proving that Leta McIntosh Averitt, my possible 5th great-grandmother, and Lovey McIntosh Hendricks, wife of my 5th great-uncle, James Hendricks, were his daughters. This relationship makes Lovey my 6th great-aunt as well as my 5th. From Craven...