Patrice, Neal is one of my brick walls as well. I have found the same information on the GLO site. Timothy Harris is Lucy's brother according to my information. I don't have information on Moses Harris, perhaps a cousin. Now, who are Neal's parents? The only information I have is that he was born about 1800 in Virginia and this if from the FHC - nothing official. Did you learn anything about that? I have talked with Connie and we both have a guess as to his parents (we both came up with the same ones) but have absolutely no proof. Actually the more I learn for sure, the more I am less certain of what I thought I knew. Surely that just made sense? Also, how did I miss Connie's message posted to the list this week that you refer to? Could you please forward it to me so I have a complete record of everything about my particular family line. Thanks for your help. Donna Fulton Price Bellevue, WA Patrice Fulton Stark wrote: > Hello to Connie Balazic! Connie and I have been exchanging information for > well over 10 years and I cannot say that we've made much progress regarding > her ancestors, Neal and Lucy (Harris) Fulton of Saline County, Missouri. I > was pleased to see Connie's note posted to the List this week. > > I've been having great luck with my own Fulton genealogy by using the online > database of the Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, General Land > Office. I took a moment today to look up Neal Fulton and found that: > > He received title to 40 acres in Section 9, Township 52 North, Range 20 > West, on 1 October 1840. (Document Nr. 11819). This tract was bounded on the > west and south by John B. Ish, on the southeast by Jonathan Ferrill, and on > the east by John Fall. All entries were made in 1840 and 1841. Directly > north of Neale's land was an entry for Timothy Harris. Henry R. Moore and > William B. Hill owned land surrounding Timothy Harris and Moses Harris owned > 40 acres north of Henry R. Moore. > > Question for Connie: Who was Timothy Harris? Who was Moses Harris? > > Lesson learned in Salt Lake: if you get stumped with the Fultons, follow the > other families. > > * * * > If you've used the GLO records before, ignore the following. If this is a > new source to you, read on. The General Land Office (GLO) handled the sale > of public land in the new territories and states. Today, the records of the > eastern states are available online. (Patience. The western states are > coming soon - February 2000!) > > http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ > > Try it out. Go to the site, type your zipcode then press Enter to log in. > Select Missouri, then in the Patent Description box type FULTON in the > Patentee Last Name box and select Saline from the drop down list of > counties. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Genealogical Search > Results. > > Wait. > > The searchable database reveals that Neale Fulton acquired 40 acres through > the GLO on 1 October 1840. There's more. > > Scroll to the bottom of the Land Patent Report page and click on View the > document and you can actually read the original record. Note that they > spelled his name "Neale." > > So, Neal Fulton obtained 40 acres in Section 9, Township 52 North, Range 20 > West. Use the Back button to return to the search page (where you found the > Patent Description boxes, etc.) Scroll to the bottom and click on RESET. > (This clears your entries.) > > Now, type the land information (Section 9, Township 52, North, Range 20, > West) in the Legal Land Description box (near the bottom of the page), then > click on Genealogical Results. You will get a list of everyone else who > acquired land in Section 9. (John B. Ish, John Fall, and Jonathan Ferrill. > Do you recognize any of these names Connie?) > > Go Back to the search page and change the Section Number to Section 4 (leave > Township 52 North, Range 20 West). Click on Title Search Results this time > and you will see a list of all entries in the Section directly north of > Neale Fulton. Look at the entry for the SESW (southeast quarter of the > southwest quarter) and you'll see that Timothy Harris acquired the tract due > north of Neale and Lucy (Harris) Fulton. Click on SWNE and see the entry for > Moses Harris. > > If you're new to Township/Range deeds, it's very simple. Everything is > square. A township is six miles by six miles. Each square mile is a section; > there are 36 sections in a township. The numbering is tricky, but once you > get the hang of it, it's simple. Section 1 is the top right square. The > first two rows look like this: > > 6 5 4 3 2 1 > 7 8 9 10 11 12 ... > > If my numbers line up correctly on your computer, you can see that Section 9 > is directly below Section 4. Neale Fulton owned 40 acres in Section 9 > bordering Section 4. Timothy Harris owned 40 acres in Section 4 directly > north and adjacent to Neale. Moses Harris owned 40 acres further north in > Section 4, he had a southwest quarter of the northeast quarter (SWNE). The > BLM site includes great descriptions of this whole Township/Range system > complete with charts & diagrams. > > What does the entry date mean? That was the date the deed was signed in > Washington D.C. Neale Fulton went to the General Land Office in Fayette, > applied for the 40 acres, and waited for his deed. My ancestor, Senee > Fulton, paid taxes on her Missouri land in 1846, but her GLO deed was not > signed until August 1848 - two years later. > > Happy hunting everyone. > > Patrice (Fulton) Stark > Lone Tree, Colorado