52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 47: Thankful for Digital Records!

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

I am very thankful for digital records I can use for genealogical sources. Being able to view images of the records I need from the comfort of my home has been a god-send. This speeds up the research process. In the past, I either had to save a list of films I wanted to view and either order the films from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, or wait until I made a trip to SLC to personally view the films at the library. Though, I do enjoy a trip to the mecca of family history, the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.

Currently, I’m working on land records in Copiah County, Mississippi, which are digitized at FamilySearch, through the catalog. Many of the deeds are also digitized online at the Copiah County Clerk’s website.

This week I have made much progress in figuring out relationships between COOR, WELCH,  and KETHLEY families, along with other collateral families living in Copiah County, Mississippi in the area near Crystal Springs.

J.M. Coor's patents 32424 & 33795 in Copiah Co, Mississippi, T1 R1 W
The map above I created using the Patent information from the BLM website for the land my 3X-great-grandfather, James Madison Coor purchased 1 March 1859. The Patent images are also on their website.[1] Here is one of the two he received for the above land:

 
Image of Patent 32424
I then checked the deed indexes at the FamilySearch catalog, looking for how he later disposed of the land. I knew he had to have sold everything before his move to Erath County, Texas sometime near 1881-82.[2]

One tool that helped me was the images of the Section Index.[3] His land was in Township One of Range One West. These pages were organized by Township and Range and then by Sections. He had land in both sections 22 and 27 which are adjacent to each other, as shown in the above map.

The top of these sheets show the land that was patented by the federal government. Then each land transaction is listed for this section in chronological order. What is shown are the grantor and grantee, the date of instrument and date of filing (sometimes different dates), the book and page number of the deed, and then markings for the position of the land in the section.

Section Index for Section 22
I used this last part to see how that particular piece of land changed hands. Sometimes it was confusing, but when the deed was read, it might mean that if a same part of the section was sold, it was a smaller part (say a few acres for a church).

Here is the section of the page showing J.M. Coor's sales of land.

J.M. Coor sold his last piece of land to Wm. Price & F.M. Sexton

I found deeds that I had missed by using the deed index. One of the deeds I missed was actually sold by order of the court and the sheriff’s name was on the deed. I would never have found that unless reading the deeds page-by-page.

Using land records, I have also narrowed down death dates for some of whom I had no date of death. There may not be a probate record for them, but there is often a sale of the land by the heirs.

Elizabeth N. Coor, the sister of James M. Coor, married Shelton H. Heard 14 January 1841 in Copiah Co, Mississippi.[4] By 1860, she was a widow with three children. I found her name on the Section 35 sheet, obtaining a patent on 1 March 1859.  She had the Northeast quarter and the Southeast quarter of the Northeast quarter of Section 35 in Township 1, Range 1 West.[5]

Section 35
By following the land down, I found a transaction concerning that land.  The heirs of Elizabeth N. Heard sold the property to William Thomas on 18 November 1866.[6] This helps narrow the date of her death. A probate record for her did not appear in any index found on FamilySearch. This may be the closest I can get to her death.

There were two deeds. The first, a conveyance between James M. Coor, guardian of John H. Hurd [Heard], who was a minor heir of Shelton and Elizabeth Hurd, late of the County of Copiah, deceased, and William Thomas of the same county. Here was mentioned the March 1866 term of probate court, so I will need to search page by page to find the order allowing the sale. John’s portion of the land was the Northeast quarter of Section 35.[7]

The land sold by the heirs was the Northeast quarter of Section 35. This deed was signed by Anna Trimble, E.V. Shamburger, and W.F. Shamburger. These two women are likely John’s sisters. Now I have possible marriages for them, as well.

Indexes to marriages, I found the two marriages of the daughters: Sarah A. M. Hurd to Drury W. Trimble, 5 Sep 1861, and Ellen V. Hurd to W. F. Shamburger on 14 May 1865.[8] 




Unfortunately, the films have not been digitized yet. I will have to put them on the list to view the next time I’m at the FamilySearch Library or wait until they are digitized. I might have to rethink the spelling of the surname. It might actually be HURD.

So you can see why I love digital images and am very thankful for the ones that are now available.


[1] Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office, database & digital images, General Land Office Records  (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ : accessed 25 Apr 2011), James M. Coor (Copiah Co, MS), cash entry sale no. 32424 & 33795.
[2] Stephenville (Texas) Empire, 6 Jan 1883, p. 3, col. 2, J.M. Coor. This article spoke about the good citizen, Mr. J.M. Coor, who had come about a year ago from Mississippi.
[3] These sectional indexes are located under Land in the Copiah County, Mississippi section of the catalog. I used digital films 8567987 and 8567988.
[4] Copiah County, Mississippi, Marriages, v. B, p. 46, Shelton H Heard to Elizabeth Coor, digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 21 Nov 2018).
[5] Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office, database & digital images, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov, no. 32420, Copiah Co, MS, Elizabeth N. Heard.
[6] Copiah County, Mississippi, Deeds, v. U, p. 511, Heirs of Elizabeth N Heard to Wm. Thomas, 1867, digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 23 Nov 2018).
[7] Copiah County, Mississippi, Deeds, v. U, p. 510, John H Hurt to Wm Thomas, 1867, digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 23 Nov 2018).
[8] "Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911," database search for H*rd between 1857-1867, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 23 Nov 2018).

Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

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