To locate some material on your Noland family: Just for starters, use google.com [unless you have a better way to find this URL] to find bureau of land management. Then look for the link - general land office. [2nd entry with google.com] At the top you will find a tab *land patents* Check this and then enter Mississippi from the drop-down menu. Type in the name Pierce Noland [last name first, of course]. It seems more likely that your Noland's records may be found in a different county, although one should not rule out Wilkinson Co., MS at an earlier date. (My folks moved from Wilkinson Co. and from Feliciana Parishes, LA to Copiah Co., MS when the Choctaws ceded their land and the Federal government took over the land.). If you live near an LDS family history center, you might conduct some more searches on their subscription to Ancestry.com. Call up the center, ask their hours of opening, and then ask about Ancestry.com Good luck to you. Thanks for a well-structured query. So many people leave out dates--a bad mistake!!!! E.W.Wallace