Yeh, I think three township/county name changes is the norm in most states. I thought it was bad till I did some research in Ontario. I think there were four in that case. It's a little like research in England, only there instead of civil parishes changing you have parishes splitting and chapels of ease. Arrrg...... How do you research them? They sell these huge books for professional genealogists that have lots of maps and the dates of when the counties were formed. The Redbook, for example. I own them, but I usually use the Internet. You study the history of the county and then research its parent, etc. You may have to research the history of township evolution too. Usually for eastern PA you can do that on the Internet. www.usgenweb.com is the hub. The rule is that the records for the later county would be in the parent county. Usually that's true, but not always. Records for what would be Pittsburgh were in Bedford County (which was Cumberland) for a nine month period in the late 1700s. I was researching one guy in Bedford county who was taxed in "Pitt Township". I think he was a little west of what we think of as Bedford County <grin>. I think that was Pittsburgh! Pennsylvania has a HUGE collection of land records on line. Unlike several other colonies/states, it has good land records. You start with the warrant register, by the way. http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=3184&&SortOrder=100&level=4&parentCommID=3162&menuLevel=Level_4&mode=2 The process to learn how to use these records effectively used to require a half hour tutoring, with handout, at the Archives. This was followed by a half day or so of total confusion and frequent questions. this they warned you to expect. So if it is bewildering on the Internet, it's not your Alzheimers <grin>. It looks like they got all the info on the page above. They also have good military records on line. The Revolutionary military records are almost a census of all adult men, excepting those in the Clink for being Loyalists and men serving in Washington or Fayette's armies (future federal troops). They were mustered by area so you also learn exactly where he lived. There is a thin book that I own that maps these army units into townships. You just need to know the name of his officer. The Indians killed all the ones living in lonely cabins except for a few holed up in Pittsburgh and vicinity. There were very few people out west though. They were of two stripes, overlooking Indians: Virginians and Pennsylvanians. The Virginian records, including court records, are published. So there were basically two parallel governments operating here -- because Virginia claimed it. Up in the north east you get Connecticut claims too. Another complication... PA legally bought parcels of land from the Indians, so you end up needing to know which purchase the land was in to use these land records. However sometimes people were living there before it was legal to live there and so the official records are of little use. If you do a lot of deed work into the late 1800s you can sometimes sort it out because eventually people wanted 'clear title'. If you didn't have that some guy could show up with a grant written on a hunk of deer hide and sue you. We still need to purchase title insurance. I didn't understand why till I started researching land records. If you need any help give a hollar. We might not help, but you'll feel better. Linda Merle ----- Original Message ----- From: "D H" <hallmark1@utvinternet.com> To: scotch-irish@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 5:30:08 AM Subject: Re: [S-I] Surname Spellingssss in Deeds/Wills by Clerks Well it is the same in other countries..if not worse. even changing names of places! /I found some of mine in Lancaster/ County, later York County, and is now Adams County, /Pennsylvania/ so how do I look for them?? These people never moved yet lived in 3 different places. Others lived in one state, the state lines were redrawn and my kin ended up in another state without moving, so now I've to find them all again in another state..grrrrrr Another was in Rhodesia but it changed its name too, so it is not just an Irish thing. In fact the Irish variations are just spelling variations....I wish it was just that for US stuff!! DH

Linda, you wrote, "There is a thin book that I own that maps these army units into townships. " What's the name? Our DNA group is following a fresh ancestor, found in the Northumberland troops (Northumberland, parent and descendant of several counties). We're trying to pin him down, hopefully to find a deed. Good luck with the Adams Co. PA historical society. I found their staff unhelpful and far too interested in disturbing me to discuss their own family searches. Or to stand in the itty bitty library talking loudly about personal business. Haven't checked lately, but they even disavowed their own website. Thanks, Sally Brandon