Jim's and Florence's messages to the list regarding missing land records reminded me to check "Land & Property Research in the United States" by E. Wade Homes. I hope this is helpful to other listers having trouble finding deeds. In his chapter on strategies for researching individual land records, Homes points out that deeds aren't required to be filed on the date of the transaction, and he suggests that we check the county records for a minimum of 20 years after our ancestor is known to have died or moved away. For example, suppose my ancestor Elder Johnson bought a farm from Mr. Smith, and he didn't go to the county seat to register the purchase. Then suppose Elder Johnson left the farm to his son in his will, and once again the transfer of title wasn't registered. When Younger Johnson sells the farm to Mr. Williams, if Williams does register the sale, the county clerk finally knows about the earlier sale and the inheritance. The clerk asks for proof of the prior transactions, and Elder Johnson's purchase gets registered 40 years after the fact. (Meanwhile, I'm looking at the index for the deed book that covers the years when Smith actually sold the land to Elder Johnson, when what I really need is the later book.) Homes also says that when records had to be reconstructed after a court house fire, the deeds would be registered long after the actual transactions. Lynn