Garthe: Dunmore and olyphant were part of Luzerne County until 1878. The Latter Day Saints microfilmed deed and index books from the Luzerne County courthouse. These books cover 1787-1901 and 1780-1907, respectively. The microfilm copies can be ordered through local Family History Centers. Deeds are crossindexed against both the name of the purchaser ("grantee") and seller ("grantor") of property. By searching both indexes for your ancestor you should be able to determine both when the land was purchased and then sold. The indexes will point you to the correct deed books and page numbers. The deeds themselves usually contain a description of the land. Modern descriptions (and landmarks) may not apply. You might be able to identify the location of the property by tracing the subsequent exchanges of the property in the deed books down to the present time (this can be very tedious-- and time consuming). I was able to find the deeds for ancestors that lived in Newton Township in the early 19th century (which was then a part of Exeter) in this way. It was interesting to see how much was paid for land at that time. Check out the holdings of the FHC at: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C180%2C0&titleno=228810&disp=Deeds%2C_1787-1901%2C_indexes_to_deeds%2C_1780 Also, check for a will in the will indexes. I found a better description of the property in my gr(3)-grandfather's will than was present in the deed. The will described boarders of the land relative to who were his neighbors. Good Luck. Bob O'Neill Yonkers, NY >From: "Garthe L. Benjamin" <garthe@pics.com> >Reply-To: "Garthe L. Benjamin" <garthe@pics.com> >To: PALUZERN-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [PALUZERN] Land Records, Deeds >Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:36:07 -0400 > >Hello All, > Was wondering if anyone has had experience with getting land records >and /or deeds for the 1800's. I recently acquired some family documents and >in it is described when the family moved into the Lackawanna Valley and >resided on a farm that was located "on the back road leading from Dunmore >to Olyphant." Does this "back road" still exist??? This would have been >around 1830. The land owner would have been Michael D. Benjamin. Any help >would be immensely appreciated. > >Garthe Leland Benjamin >19 Pleasant Street >Vincentown, NJ 08088 >(609) 859-8805 >garthe@pics.com > > >==== PALUZERN Mailing List ==== >Need a Cemetery in Luzerne County: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~paluzern/cemeteries.htm > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp