Also, check the Alabama Secretary of State website for early land records. They have many records earlier that BLM. They also have plats and surveyors notes. It is a great resource. The problem is that they are not indexed. You have to search by township, range and section so you need to know about where your ancestors lived. I had Graves ancestors in Lowndes county who arrived about 1818. BLM only had a few records and nothing earlier than the 1820s. I found their orginal 1818 and 1819 land grants and many additional grants on the SOS site. John John K. Brown jkbrown2@knology.net "Honesty is the Best Policy, but Insanity is a Better Defense." On Fri 08/28/09 2:43 PM , "liz hicks" erootrot@usa.net sent: > Ed, > Bibb county was not created until 1818 from Monroe and > Montgomery Cos. There is an 1816 territorial > census for sereral counties in Al. I believe these were abstracted > and published by the Alabama Gen. Society years ago. The territorial > censuses are in the American State Papers. Did your ancestor have > a bounty land warrant from service in War of 1812? > > Try www.worldcat.org to > find a copy of the book you mentioned ina library. You can put in your zip code to see the closest to > you. Don't forget interlibrary loan. > > Use http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ (Bureau of Land > Management site)for a Patent search for your ancestor who appears to have been in > Alabama (Mississippi Territory as AL became a state in 1819). > > Since Alabama was not a state until 1819, you will need territorial > records before 1819. Try AL State Archives in Montgomery, AL and MS > State Archives in Jackson, MS. > > Do you know about free Texas Death Certificates at: > http://pilot.familysearch.org? There is alot of > free info.at this site as well. Happy Hunting, Liz in Houston > > > > ------ Original Message ------ > Received: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:22:49 PM EDT > From: "gc-ga > teway@rootsweb.com" gc-ga > teway@rootsweb.com>To: ALBIBB- > L@rootsweb.com>Subject: [ALBIBB] MILLER, SMITH > > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Author: eddiebob > Surnames: SMITH, WILSON, HALL > Classification: queries > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.alabam > a.counties.bibb/525.324.1/mb.ashx > Message Board Post: > > I am looking for a John SMITH, my GGGGgrampa, that settled in Bibb > Countyshortly after the War of 1812. He is mentioned in the Bibb County history > byArmes: "Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama". > I haven't been a ble to find a copy of this history. > John SMITH, born about 1820 is my GGGgrampa. > His daughter, Susana Rutha SMITH, is my GGgramma. Rutha was born on 30 > April1840 according to her tombstone in Beckham County, OK. She died 6 June > 1900.She married Elijah Thomas WILSON about 1867 in Lavaca County, TX. > Rutha was a ward of the Lavaca Court of Estates. Her guardians were James > Tand Malona(HALL) WILSON, Elijah's uncle and aunt. The HALL's and WILSON's > wereon the 1830 Greene County, AL census and 1840 Sumpter County, AL census. > Theymoved to Noxubee County, MS in 1836; then on to Neshoba County, MS in > 1844;and on to Lavaca County TX in 1853. > Any help finding this SMITH family would be very helpful and > appreciated.Ed Antonette > ed_dott > ie@verizon.net > Important Note: > The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you > wouldlike to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above > andrespond on the board. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > A > LBIBB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes inthe subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to A > LBIBB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >