I once looked up the property in Chicago where my grandparents lived, to see who owned the found. Apparently my grandfather owned it, as there was ONE document with his name on it in the whole file. He had gotten a second mortgage. No initial purchase, no first mortgage, no sale of the property by him or my grandmother in the file. David T Buzzek You cannot soar with the eagles during the day if you hoot with the owls at night! --- On Thu, 3/8/12, Don Krieger <akadonnew@verizon.net> wrote: > From: Don Krieger <akadonnew@verizon.net> > Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] Chicago land and property records > To: cook-co-il@rootsweb.com > Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012, 8:00 AM > > It's definitely worth the effort to learn how > to search these books since > they almost certainly document all > property transactions (and much more) > from the time that the county came into > existence to the present. One > detail that you occasionally find is a > death date. If a person dies whose > is a property owner, that person's death > must be proved to the Register of > Deeds before the title to his/her property > can be transferred. Hence the > recording of the deed transfer will > include at least the date of death and > may in some instances include a death > certificate. > Here in Allegheny County (PA), there are 3 > sets of books. The largest set > contains copies of the deeds in > numeric order by book number and page > number. The other 2 sets are > indices, "direct" and "ab sectum." The direct > index books list all recordings by the > name of the "grantor." The grantor > is the person(s) who hold the current > deed. The ab sectum index books list > all recordings by the name of the > "grantee." The grantee is the person(s) > to whom the deed is being assigned. > Each entry in both sets if index books > shows the names of all of the grantors, > grantees, and the book and page > number where the deed may be found. > Here the index books are in groups > covering a modest time span, typically 11 > years for the more recent time blocks and > longer spans for the earlier > ones. Both the indices and deed > books fully cover all years back to 1788 > when Allegheny County was created. > The index books here are not strictly > alphabetical, but rather the Russell Index > system is used. That is the > system which includes the Soundex codes; > it was invented here in Pittsburgh > so we find it everywhere whereas you may > not. > I hope this is helpful. By the way, > the mortgages are indexed and organized > in a comparable way in the same offices. > Don > [1]http://www.DonsList.net - Always free, > always fast > [2]http://New.DonsList.net - Recently added > > On 03/08/12, Bart Hansen<vestby@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Kim mentioned the basement and the sets of > books. I went there about six > years ago and found the whole process > somewhat difficult. The room was > swarming with para-legals and, according > to one I spoke with, crooks looking > to find properties to sell that they don't > own. > But if you can master the system of back > and forth lookups between two sets > of ledger books you can find a property's > history. I think the secret is > trying to charm one of the clerks into > giving you more than a 10 second > explanation of the system. > It is fun, though, to find the histories > of where your ancestors lived, for > how long and whether they owned or rented > the houses. > Bart > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to > [3]COOK-CO-IL-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the > message > > References > > 1. http://www.DonsList.net/ > 2. http://New.DonsList.net/ > 3. mailto:COOK-CO-IL-request@rootsweb.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to COOK-CO-IL-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the > subject and the body of the message >