Sandy, I have found land records in several states, and they have been very helpful. To see the originals, you need to go to the county courthouse and ask where they are kept. In every courthouse in which I've looked, there are indexes to the deeds, both by grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer). For many counties, these indexes are online, frequently on the county's GenWeb site. When they are, you can check before going to the courthouse to make sure your ancestors actually had land dealings in that county. As to how far back they go, well, that depends. In theory they should go back to the formation of the parent county (or counties) - which means your ancestors were there before the change in county lines you may have to check more than one county. Over time, however, some records have been lost, whether to fire, theft or something else. Maybe I've been lucky - most of the ones I've searched for have been available! I haven't yet gotten to any Mississippi courthouses, but plan a trip at the end of this month. I'll be looking in Tishomingo, Itawamba, Lee and Alcorn, at least, and if I have time, in a few others, as well. While in the courthouses, don't forget to ask about wills, which, when available, are great resources! Also, for many counties, abstracts of the deeds in the early land records have been published in book form. Check with the county libraries in the relevant counties, and with the local historical and genealogical societies. Some times you can get copies on interlibrary loan. There are also libraries around the country which have good collections of materials, including published books, for not only their own area but also neighboring states. I know the Birmingham Public Library and the Tuscaloosa Public Lib rary (both in Alabama) have good collections of materials on all the southeastern states, for instance. Just jump in feet first and have a good time with this. We sere all rookies at one time! Margaret Lindsey Smith