Correction -- Just found out: Paul is speaking at the National Archives, not the state archives. They're next to each other and they share the same parking lot. =============================== www.georgialandlottery.com details Paul K. Graham's new books on the Georgia Land Lottery of 1805. Both books look like they would be a great help to us researchers. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the 1805 Lottery he is speaking this Saturday morning at the Georgia Archives. Here's an article from the Dallas Morning News about one of the books - "1805 Georgia Land Lottery Fortunate Drawers and Grantees" Lloyd Bockstruck: New index enhances data on Georgia 08:17 PM CDT on Saturday, June 11, 2005 Most Americans know that among the lower 48 states, Texas is the largest. In addition, they might guess by its size that it has the greatest number of counties of all 50 states. Fewer people, however, can identify the largest state (in square miles) east of the Mississippi River with the second greatest number of counties in the nation. That distinction belongs to Georgia. Named in honor of King George, it was the only English colony in our country founded under the House of Hanover. All the other 12 colonies were established under the Stuarts. Between 1805 and 1833, Georgia held a series of lotteries to distribute vacant land among private citizens. Through these eight lotteries the Peach Tree State disposed of 27 million acres. (By comparison, Oklahoma distributed approximately 2 million acres in its land lottery.) The records of these lotteries constitute one of the main sources for identifying Georgia's early settlers and linking them to their actual place of residence in the state. Unlike the other former colonies, much of Georgia was surveyed on the grid system that was developed in New England and extended to the rest of the country after independence. Realizing that the response could be overwhelming, Georgia held its first land lottery in 1805. The powers that be required participants to have resided there for at least 12 months prior to the drawing. Every single, white, male citizen was eligible for one draw. Married men had two draws. Widows had a draw, and orphans whose fathers were dead and mothers had remarried were also eligible for one draw. While indexes have existed for these lotteries for a number of years, they had their shortcomings, including errors. This prompted Paul Graham to redo the 1805 land lottery. He utilized footnotes and endnotes to address specific problems, and his notes enhanced his work tremendously. He also features information from executive orders and documents. The Dallas Public Library has copies of the land grant books on microfilm, so with Mr. Graham's new index, family historians can reassemble the paper trail. He has arranged the text by county and district number and lot categories. He also provides the county of residence. He includes an index to all of the names in his 1805 Georgia Land Lottery Fortunate Drawers and Grantees. As with any governmental program, clerical and administrative mistakes can cause a lot of grief for citizens. For example, Joseph Tidwell found himself in such a predicament in the days of the lottery. His name appeared as Job Tidswell. That mistake forced him to wage his own battle. He was obliged to gather all kinds of testimony and affidavits from others to prove his case. The only consolation is the rich detail waiting to be discovered by his descendants. Lloyd Bockstruck supervises the genealogy section of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas. Address questions to Family Tree, Texas Living section, The Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, TX 75265.