It typically isn't as simple as looking in a will book. So many didn't have wills or the wills were lost. What we do have lots of in Overton County is court minutes and deeds. When I was in Livingston in October I spent some time at the Registrar of Deeds office looking for proof of the father of Creed Garrett, my ancestor (supposedly Joshua, but I've seen no proof). I was looking for Elijah, Joshua & Creed. I found court minutes in a case where the defendant was indexed as "Joshua Garrett's Heirs", so I was hoping that would have my answer. Unfortunately, it was Creed's brother Joshua, BUT for anyone researching that line it would be very helpful - gives his year of death, name of his wife and children, most of whom were minors. Researching in the old documents is tedious. This particular document was not in the book and page listed in the Index, which meant I had to go through that entire book and then another to find it. ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

I've worked with a few of the remaining Overton Co documents but living in TX it has been very few. However, I have worked with records from burned courthouses here in TX. One of the most interesting things I discovered is that families would invariably re-file their deeds. This was important to establish the ownership of the land and/or property, particularly for the heirs. We discovered a whole other group of children in one of my husband's ancestors deed records when the family "re-filed" the deed. This group of children were from a first marriage and they all still lived in GA. Each of them were listed with their spouses and their children. Land ownership was so important and most families had copies of their original deeds. When an individual died it was important to the heirs to establish legally their claim to the land. You might want to check on this. Oh, and another interesting thing I discovered in just abstracting Parker Co, TX, deeds for a local publication, was the filing in the Deed records of an adoption. Jerry Wright Jordan -----Original Message----- From: tnoverto-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:tnoverto-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Louannel@aol.com Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 6:09 PM To: tnoverto@rootsweb.com Subject: [TNOVERTO] Overton County Records It typically isn't as simple as looking in a will book. So many didn't have wills or the wills were lost. What we do have lots of in Overton County is court minutes and deeds. When I was in Livingston in October I spent some time at the Registrar of Deeds office looking for proof of the father of Creed Garrett, my ancestor (supposedly Joshua, but I've seen no proof). I was looking for Elijah, Joshua & Creed. I found court minutes in a case where the defendant was indexed as "Joshua Garrett's Heirs", so I was hoping that would have my answer. Unfortunately, it was Creed's brother Joshua, BUT for anyone researching that line it would be very helpful - gives his year of death, name of his wife and children, most of whom were minors. Researching in the old documents is tedious. This particular document was not in the book and page listed in the Index, which meant I had to go through that entire book and then another to find it. ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNOVERTO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0/1136 - Release Date: 11/17/2007 2:55 PM