Jane wrote: >If you had family in the Saybrook area early on, you'll want to check the both the files from Book 1 I can honestly say that some of these records were so much fun reading. Both Jane and I wish some of these records were "our" families. In two recent instances, detailed family information was documented in the deed for inheritance purposes--from a married female member of the family tying them back to their father/brother. Be aware that the search engine only looks for exact spelling--soundex does not work. I have seen some of the family names spelt so differently, it would be hard to remember to key in every variation of the spellings. In all these deeds, we have tried to make sure that the surname is all in capital letters to help make it easier to find your family, although you do not need to type in all caps in the search engine. Also, in transcribing some of the deed records, I see names listed within the body of the deed that I have not yet seen an actual deed recorded for them. For example, the wording might be something like "bounded southwest on the lands of XXX." By glancing through some of these, you might find that XXX is someone in your family--with a spelling you have never seen before. That can at least place your family in a particular time and place to give you the clues to keep researching in that specific area. The other item I would like share is that in some of these deeds, you can note that one of the parties is from another town or colony. This is also a clue to help you find where that person came from, or was going to about this time. I have seen several articles lately regarding land record or deed research lately that are tremendously helpful to a genealogist. I wish I had some of these guidelines when I started doing "deed work" on my family tree. Now, it is my favorite part of research. Indexes are ok to get you started; but, just reading through other deeds at that same time brings more clues than ever for researching your family. Be aware also, that with the scarcity of some records, these deeds may be the only way you can "prove" from one generation to the next. I hope you are enjoying reading these deeds as much as I have. With at least 6 family lines in this book, these pages gives me more information of their lives in this early settlement. Janece