I know I am a little late getting into this discussion but I have searched courthouse records for transfer of ownership in Illinois and I have been told unless the land goes out of the family, it doesn't have to be recorded. There is a parcel of land in a county that original had my ancestor's name on the deed (1830) but nothing after the original entry. I am a direct descendant of the man. The people living on the farm now are descendant's of my ancestor's wife's brother. They say that they have an abstract but they keep in the bank and, of course, I have tried several times to get a copy. Do abstracts have to be kept up-to-date even though there is nothing in the courthouse? Joan Black Lund [email protected] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~joanlund/