Dear Diane of Conroe, Texas On Christmas Eve, you sent this message to Harris-Hunters: "Diane Ethridge" <[email protected]> Subject: [HARRIS-HUNTERS] Looking for Harris' from VA to IL & to GA I'm trying to find info on 2 different Harris families: In the 1850 census, my gg grandmother, Johanna Gilbert Wright, age 15, was living with Addison Schuyler Harris & his wife, Henrietta (Harris) Harris (cousins). I have info on this couple from Buckingham & Albemarle Co. VA but am still searching for their connection to my Wright family of Lunenburg/Brunswick Co. VA to Greene Co. OH to Henry/Hancock/Wayne Co. IN to Clark/Jasper Co. IL. These Wrights were affiliated with the M-E Church & many were ministers. Johanna was the dau of Rev. James Gilbert Wright & w/Lucinda McComas Wright. Johanna later married Wm Arbuckle & moved to MO. These Harris' settled in Richland Co. IL. Henrietta's death certificate was signed by a Dr. Henry J.B. Wright who later moved to Santa Clara, CA. ANY info on these people would be most appreciated. Also, looking for a James Harris who married Elizabeth Puckett in Paulding Co. GA in 1860s. My response to you: Wow--you have sent us too many problems to work on at once!!!!! First--I am told by correspondents in Texas that the Texas State Library in Austin has a subscription to HeritageQuest, an online genealogical database. May I suggest you contact that Library by telephone, ask to speak to a reference or research librarian, and ask whether you, in Conroe, are able to access that database from your home computer in Conroe. Do you need a State Library card? If so, how much does a card cost you, a resident of Texas? Most of the time, HeritageQuest database can be accessed on your home computer--but the card's number is your password. If that avenue is closed to you, contact the Houston Public Library system at the Clayton Library [THE genealogical library in Texas which has the mostest!!!] and ask whether you as an out-of-towner can pay a special fee to get a library card for the Houston PL system. Sometimes a resident in a nearby county can pay a fee and get a card, generally good for a year, at a *foreign* library, such as the Clayton, which is only branch of the Houston Public Library system. It seems you have some work to do on the censuses which are online at HeritageQuest and Ancestry.com. HeritageQuest is available only through subscribing libraries. However, Ancestry.com, for a fee, is available to anyone with adequate funds to pay the fee. I personally subscribe on a monthly basis to Ancestry.com, as I never know when I may have to unsubscribe because of family health problems. Only you can do what is best for your circumstances. When a *newbie* comes into the Family History Center with which I am most familiar, the old time researcher who practically lives there asks, Have you done your census work? The reason for his first question is, this: Some of the later censuses, beginning with the 1880 census, give LOTS of details which many of us fail to recognize. The 1930 census may give you some clues also. Now, of course, we all have problems with early censuses--or lack of them. In that case, we have to turn to other documents. Your ancestors, whether they liked the government or not, had interface with governmental agencies. Therefore, we have to turn to other documents. Some suggestions: Tax records - even in burned counties, such as in Kentucky, the tax records were frequently kept at the State level, and the State may have copies [on film] of tax records which no longer exist in the county courthouse. Those tax records are useful. Even if a fellow owned only his horse, beginning at about age 16 in some areas, he was counted as a taxable, sometimes called a tithable. Deeds - I have found some answers even in DEED indexes. If a person has after his name the abbreviation *Hrs*, I know he was deceased before that date. If the deed index has after the name *&c* I know others are involved--sometimes family members. One well-known author-lecturer-genealogist of Salt Lake City lectures widely on land records and reminds us that in the pre-World War I days, about 90% of the white population owned land. (In fact, my English great-grandfather, not a Harris, came to USA because the railroad was selling cheap land in Texas in the 1880s). Court Records - Long ago, when I was employed, I hired a researcher in Frankfort, KY. He began with the court records, and I was glad to know of these records. There are references not only to lawsuits [everybody sued everybody for debt, mostly, but also trespass, etc.] but probates, deeds in some cases, pauper deaths, etc. Having a baby out of wedlock, hangings, etc. In your instance, you have to *partialize* your genealogical problems. In your message, you have lumped too many together. Were I you, I would get some guide books on each state in which you have to conduct research, read the history of that state [an encyclopedia may help here], but learn the way of acquiring land in that state. There are states called *state land* states and then there are *federal land* states. Most states acquired by the Federal government after the Louisiana Purchase [remember that event from your history book days?] are Federal land states--with the exception of Texas and Hawaii, and maybe one or two others. Most states with Federal land have land patents posted on the Bureau of Land Management web site. _http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/_ (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/) Last time I looked not all States had been entered--California was among the missing when I last looked. For Virginia, you are in a State land state. The Library of Virginia has most of the land patents on their website _http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/land/index.htm_ (http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/land/index.htm) These patents are NOT the same as deeds. Deeds are between two private individuals or corporations. Only when the government is the issuing agency will you find the patents. (I am simplifying.) Depending on when your folks were in Lunenburg Co., VA and its progeny counties, you may find some books by Landon C. Bell either on HeritageQuest, mentioned above, or perhaps at your local library. I am fairly certain that the Clayton Library in downtown Houston would have one or two of Bell's books on Lunenburg Co. Sunshine on the Southside is a hefty book. You cannot read it in a day!!! You may just have to run away from home for a day or two and go to Houston and have a ball at the Clayton with some of their vast collections. But, first read a lot about how to do research in various states where your people lived. If your town or county has a genealogical society, join that society. They will help you with your genealogical problems--and maybe even have some field trips to Houston to the Clayton. Break down each of your families and do some family group sheets. I know a well-known researcher-author-lecturer-librarian who refused to discuss any genealogical problem with a client/or a friend who does not hand her family group sheets. In composing a family group sheet, for example, if you find the father of your ancestor is age 70 when the baby is born, you probably have the wrong date. And so on!!! You can find a lot of gaps yourself when you do a family group sheet. One one well known author long deceased messed up one of my North Carolina colonial families by skipping a generation. I could not make sense of it, until I discussed the problem with my friend who demands family group sheets. I said, It does not make sense. She, while we were in Salt Lake City as the world-famous Family History Library, took me over to the vast accumulated correspondence of this author in which many letters he received refuted his findings!!!! I hope you have lots of success. Repost your questions to Harris-Hunters, but throw one family at us at a time. Give not only Names and Places, but Dates. Virginia has been populated by Anglos since 1607, and I bet a Harris was among one of those early inhabitants!!! E.W.Wallace always trying to learn **************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)