This is an excellent question. Long ago not everyone had enough money to buy land. Many people were renters all their life. This holds true now, as then. The FREE land offered out WEST, like in Oklahoma and Texas at one time, was a very big draw for poor folks looking to have their "American Dream". I recall in a history book story about one of my own relatives who went from New Jersey to Ohio and Indiana as of 1813, that the reason for the move was "a down turn of finances". He was a Doctor in New York City. This tells me he was for some reason unsuccessful, financially in NYC, perhaps a bad business deal, or perhaps he found too much competion in NYC. So he was forced to Go West for his income. If you couldn't make it in the NJ-NY area, you went WEST to try your luck. Land and Taxes are always in the name of the owner, never the renter. City directories will show all the citizens, regarless of ownership, and sometimes a city directory wiull even have a column noting did they rent or own, also census records, church records, etc. But if you have combed the correct county for deeds and taxes, then you must consider that they may have never owned property. (Make sure that you have checked the correct county!) I have found that CLERGY (ministers/preachers) often never owned land, but were given house and garden/field for their family, many times near to the church, and it was church owned land. That man's name will not show up. Could there be mines, or some other type of factory/occupation in which a company owned the houses that the workers lived at? My grandfather lived 43 years in a 'gas company' house, owned by the Lone Star Gas Co in Texas, he was the district supervisor. His name would never show on land deeds until he retired and moved away and bought a house. My Brower family were in New York City from 1642 thru 1813, I haven't checked, but many generations of them probably were renters, never actually owning their home. I have noticed that their house address in city director ies often changed from year to year, also evidence that they moved alot, because they were renters, not owners. In a rural countryside setting we would expect that a family OWNED their own farm, but perhaps they were renters of the land, called Tenant Farmers. In a large city like NYC we could expect that many persons rented, as opposed to owned. I wish you good luck in all your searches. Lilly Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Pena" <sweetsue63@sbcglobal.net> To: <NJHUNTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:58 AM Subject: [NJHUNTER] Homes and Land > I was wondering if anyone can answer this question. In the early to mid 1800s and before when the country was mostly rural and farmers, were there a lot of people who rented property from someone or possibly "rent to own" type land arrangements as we have them today. > > When you know your family lived in an area and you can't find a deed for them or their parents, is it likely they could have "rented" property, especially if they were young and just starting out? Also in places where there was land tax collected, was the tax collected from the owner or from the occupant of the land? Is there any way of knowing renter's names of property, if they were just renting the land? > > Susan > > > ==== NJHUNTER Mailing List ==== > Visit the Updated Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&ta rgetid=5429 > >

Another consideration....although I'm far from an expert in this respect..... If you suspect, or family lore claims, that your ancestor MAY have owned a specific house (or a certain farm), it often helps to begin by obtaining the identity of the current owner, and then tracing the deed backwards. As most every deed mentions the name of the prior owner, it's fairly easy to trace the ownership deed by deed. This system worked for me in several instances, leading me directly to my ancestor's name. Rita in Hunterdon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lilly" <malik@scs-net.org> To: <NJHUNTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 7:49 PM Subject: Re: [NJHUNTER] Homes and Land > This is an excellent question. Long ago not everyone had enough money to > buy land. Many people were renters all their life. This holds true now, > as > then. > The FREE land offered out WEST, like in Oklahoma and Texas at one time, > was > a very big draw for poor folks looking to have their "American Dream". > I recall in a history book story about one of my own relatives who went > from > New Jersey to Ohio and Indiana as of 1813, that the reason for the move > was > "a down turn of finances". He was a Doctor in New York City. This tells > me > he was for some reason unsuccessful, financially in NYC, perhaps a bad > business deal, or perhaps he found too much competion in NYC. So he was > forced to Go West for his income. > > If you couldn't make it in the NJ-NY area, you went WEST to try your luck. > > Land and Taxes are always in the name of the owner, never the renter. > City > directories will show all the citizens, regarless of ownership, and > sometimes a city directory wiull even have a column noting did they rent > or > own, also census records, church records, etc. But if you have combed the > correct county for deeds and taxes, then you must consider that they may > have never owned property. (Make sure that you have checked the correct > county!) > > I have found that CLERGY (ministers/preachers) often never owned land, but > were given house and garden/field for their family, many times near to the > church, and it was church owned land. That man's name will not show up. > > Could there be mines, or some other type of factory/occupation in which a > company owned the houses that the workers lived at? My grandfather lived > 43 > years in a 'gas company' house, owned by the Lone Star Gas Co in Texas, he > was the district supervisor. His name would never show on land deeds > until > he retired and moved away and bought a house. > > My Brower family were in New York City from 1642 thru 1813, I haven't > checked, but many generations of them probably were renters, never > actually > owning their home. I have noticed that their house address in city > director > ies often changed from year to year, also evidence that they moved alot, > because they were renters, not owners. > > In a rural countryside setting we would expect that a family OWNED their > own > farm, but perhaps they were renters of the land, called Tenant Farmers. > In > a large city like NYC we could expect that many persons rented, as opposed > to owned. > > I wish you good luck in all your searches. > Lilly Martin > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Susan Pena" <sweetsue63@sbcglobal.net> > To: <NJHUNTER-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:58 AM > Subject: [NJHUNTER] Homes and Land > > >> I was wondering if anyone can answer this question. In the early to mid > 1800s and before when the country was mostly rural and farmers, were there > a > lot of people who rented property from someone or possibly "rent to own" > type land arrangements as we have them today. >> >> When you know your family lived in an area and you can't find a deed for > them or their parents, is it likely they could have "rented" property, > especially if they were young and just starting out? Also in places where > there was land tax collected, was the tax collected from the owner or from > the occupant of the land? Is there any way of knowing renter's names of > property, if they were just renting the land? >> >> Susan >> >> >> ==== NJHUNTER Mailing List ==== >> Visit the Updated Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter >> >> ============================== >> New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your >> ancestors > at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&ta > rgetid=5429 >> >> > > > > ==== NJHUNTER Mailing List ==== > This mail list is archived at: > http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/index/NJHUNTER > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >