We’ve mentioned affidavits from land records before, but this one from 1942 is a real gem. James Edward Rampley documents three generations of ownership of the farm he owned, going back to his grandfather, James Rampley. Death dates are included along with relationships and additional family information.
I’m not certain why this is recorded with the mortgages, but it is.
And that makes another point, check every book. If I had ignored the mortgage records, I would never have located this gem.
This affidavit was analyzed in an earlier issue of Casefile Clues.
4 Responses
My suggestions to library patrons to research land records often falls on deaf ears. They usually reply “Oh, I know where their land was.” They never know what gems they might find!
One never knows what one will find until one looks. Often land records aren’t this detailed, but if clear title becomes an issue, there may be a great deal of information.
I have found many interesting items in land records such as a wife declaring a horse as her property, not that of her husbands because her father gave it to her, a contract for an apprenticeship detailing the young man, his parents, the person training him, and that the trainer had to provide room, board, clothes, and allow him to attend school.
Some years ago a gentleman was searching for his adoption records in a county in northern Missouri. He was told they didn’t have the records but a Judge (an older gentleman who had been there a long time) just happened to pass by that office and overheard them. He said told them the adoption records were in the Deed books! The clerks in the office had no idea what extras were in the deed books. You just never know where genealogical information is hiding!