On 3 Jul 2002 at 20:25, Jmpat737@aol.com wrote: > Dear Shipslisters > I am searching for information on the immigration of James > Patton and Martha Perry for the period 1853-55. They immigrated > from County Donegal, Ireland to Simcoe County Ontario with their > four children; Francis b1845, James b1847, Anne b1849 and Sarah > b1851. Dear Jim You don't say where in Simcoe County this family settled, so I can't help with specifics but I did take a look in some land records, namely the CLRI. (Computerized Land Records Index). Land records are very useful. Originally all land in Ontario belonged to the Crown. Although there were small areas of settlement in 1763 after the British took over, major settlement of Upper Canada began in 1783 and utilized Crown Grants. The CLRI is an index which summarizes land grants from sales of of Crown Land in Ontario, from Canada Company sales and leases, and from Peter Robinson settlers' grants. It provides invaluable clues for further research! Given the early settlement time period, there is a very good chance your James will be found there. Most settlers bought land soon after arrival, although of course there were exceptions to this - some lived with family previously settled, others had no urgent need for land (a blacksmith didn't need land as urgently as a farmer for example) Getting back to the CLRI, it only shows the first time owner of Crown Land so if your ancestor purchased land from someone else his/her name will not show on this index but it is still a very useful tool. Not only does it provide you with exact location (township, lot #, conc. #) it provides you with a date of transaction, whether or not there were special circumstances surrounding the transaction (a free grant, a hardship grant, a military grant, etc), and it provides you with an Archival Reference number. This AR number can provide more detail; often it does not but it is still a stone that should be turned. With a date of transaction you have narrowed the field for immigration. :-) Beyond that the value of the CLRI is in the interpretation of the one line index entry -- which can lead you to other avenues of research. I have a more detailed explanation of the CLRI and other land records in Ontario on my site under my ONTARIO RESEARCH section. Go to http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/land.shtml and http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/clri.shtml Now - back to your James Patton! I had a look in the CLRI and found several references to James Patton settling in various townships in Simcoe County. There were too many to copy here but let me give you one as an example of what you will learn. If you can give me a township or town/village where James settled, I'll see if one of the many I found could be yours. For instance I found reference to James Patton purchasing land in Orillia in 1857; Kempenfelt in 1856; 3 entries for Innisfil 1853 and 1854 and 2 entries for Tay in 1853 and 1854. Here is one of the Tay entries so you can see how the CLRI works and how you interpret it: First, the fields of entry are: Name of Locatee/ Residence/ Township, Town or City/ Lot/ Concession/ Date ID/ Issue Date/ Transaction Type/. Type FG/ Type of Lease or Sale/ Archival Reference James Patton/ -- / Tay / 19/ 3 / 4/ 18530318/ L / -- /--/ CCB3034497 Translation: James Patton, no residence given, leased land on Conc. 3, Lot 19 in Tay Township Simcoe County on 18 March 1853. This was a Canada Company transaction and more information can be found in the Canada Company fonds at the Ontario Archives, specifically in Volume 34 on page 497 You will therefore want to consult Canada Company Sale & Lease files 1780-1920 (F 129, on MS 729, 8 reels) Since it was a Canada Company transaction you should also consult their Applications for Deeds 1827-1949 (Series B-3), Registers of Wills 1826- 1920, Power of Attorney files 1826-1926 (Series A-7-1), Burial Certificates 1842-1923 and their Remittance Books (Series C-7, Vols. 1-4) listing overseas names and addresses to whom money was sent. Go to my pages at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/clri.shtml Read my information on the CLRI and where to get the next set of records. Then use the conversion tables I have linked to, to provide you with an exact microfilm reel number(s). Once you have the exact land location for your ancestor (lot, conc #, township and county) you can venture into more records such as the Abstract Indexes to Deeds and Township papers, which can contain a wealth of genealogical treasure! However since this list is really for immigration, I won't get into that as it's a bit too far off topic :-) Please let me know if you have details re your James Patton. I live in Simcoe County and would be happy to check a few sources for you. Lorine Lorine McGinnis Schulze -- * The Olive Tree Genealogy http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ * Past Voices:Letters Home http://pastvoices.com/ * USA Genealogy http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/usa_genealogy/ * My Family Branches http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~myfamilybranches/ otg@csolve.net or olivetreegen@netscape.net