Dear Bob: I am researching my family tree, and wondered if you might help give me some advice? My ancestors, moved to Butler County, OH, about 1803 and lived there until abt. 1817. I am trying to learn about them and a bit about their lives. I do not know which township they lived in, or if they owned property there. What are some of the ways I should be searching and what records might I access? Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert McMaken" <rmcmaken@gmail.com> To: <OHBUTLER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 3:07 AM Subject: [OHBUTLER-L] Re: 1836 Plat Maps >I have been following, with some interest, this thread of conversation > since these documents are official Butler County records and, as such, > are subject to the Open Records Law and are in the public domain. > > The original plat maps are in the custody of the Butler County > Engineer's Office, as are all of the township plat maps that still > exist. Copies have been made over the years and can be found in > various libraries such as the Smith Library of Regional History in > Oxford (a division of the Lane Public Library) and the Cummins Room of > the Lane Public Library in downtown Hamilton. > > The various maps have been published in book format over the years by > several organizations. The book that most of us are the most familiar > with is entitled "The County of Butler, Ohio, McBride's Map of 1836 > Combined With The Atlases Of 1875 and 1895." It is a large format > book, 11" x 14" in size. My copy was printed in 1989 by Whipporill > Publications, Evansville, Indiana. It was sponsored by the Butler > County Historical Society. The last time I checked, they no longer had > copies available. > > This book also contains an index to the names of the property owners > shown on each of the 1836 township maps and what section of the > township the property was located in. Each township has its own index > and, unless you know what township your ancestors lived in, you must > go through each township to locate them. This index was donated by > Shirley Baker and is probably still under her copyright. > > The Butler County Records Center and Archives has a set of high > quality, large format copies of the maps (11" x 17") that were made > from the original plats. When they are reduced to "11 x 14" some of > the names listed on them become very difficult to read. When we reduce > them further, many of the names are no longer readable. > > We recently analyzed our copies and determined that some can be > enhanced and are arranging to get new copies to see what we can do > with the ones that need work on them. We will let the list know when > this project is completed and the procedure for ordering them. > > Please keep in mind that we cannot furnish copies of the entire index > due to copyright restrictions. > > The Records Center and Archives also has online digitized copies of > James McBride's original 1834 appraisals that were the basis for the > maps. To view them go to: > > http://www.butlercountyohio.org/records > > and click on "Archives" and then "McBride Collection." > > We also have a number of the re-appraisals from the mid 1800s. These > books contain drawings of each of the sections in the township and > often show the location of buildings, names of the owners and property > valuations. There are no indexes for these books and we need to know > the section of the township in order to locate the drawing. This is > not a complete collection and there are a number of missing townships. > I will pull all of the books together, make a list of what is > available, and post it to this list. > > If you have any questions regarding the maps, the other resources > cited or other record availability, please direct them to: > > bcarchives@butlercountyohio.org > > When ordering records, make sure you include your full name, e-mail > address, regular mailing address (we do not transmit records as > attachments), the name of the person being researched, type of record > desired, e.g., birth, marriage, death, estate, etc. and an > approximation of the date of the event. The copying costs are five > cents per page, with the first five copies free. To this will be added > mailing costs where appropriate. > > Bob McMaken > Volunteer Genealogist > Butler County Records Center and Archives > 123 North Third St. > Hamilton, OH 45011 > > > ==== OHBUTLER Mailing List ==== > To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a message to: > OHBUTLER-L-request@rootsweb.com or OHBUTLER-D-request@rootsweb.com > Put SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE (whichever you want to do) > >