Sue, When the land still belonged to the State, there was a process you went through to obtain title to land. Find vacant land, have it surveyed, get it registered, pay fees to the state, etc. This usually took place over a period of years in some cases. Some people got the process started, they appear in an Entry or Survey Book, and never complete the process, usually moving on to AR or MO. This happened to my Cagle family who obtained land by the occupant law of 1836. They moved to New Madrid Co., MO before gaining title to the land. David dparks@usit.net wrote: > Can anyone tell me if the Courthouse in Hardin County has any early estate > records and are you allowed to look at them? > > Also any help on James C McLin and family will be appreciated. > James C McLin was in Lincoln Co., TN in 1830; Wayne County 1840 and Hardin > Co. in 1850. He may have been a Presbyterian preacher. I can't find him > after 1850. In a book on Hardin Co., I found he owned 195 acres of land on > the East TN River. Wheh I looked through a micro-film of deed index, I > could not find his name. How can you own land and not buy or sell it? > > Thanks, > Sue Davis