LINKS to a few cool websites....
Old Land Records
- US Govt Land Records -- an AWESOME resource, most of the original land sale records for 28 western and midwestern states (those N of the Ohio or W of the Mississippi Rivers -- except Texas) provided by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). For example, to view actual copies of records for land sold by the US govt to ggg-grandpa Henry A Dawson, go to "Missouri" and do a search on his name.
- Illinois Govt Land Records -- similar to the preceding site except for IL only, and text only (no images of records).
Vital Records
Maps OLD and NEW
- US Topographical Maps -- a truly AWESOME collection of topographical maps for all regions of the US in different scales. Markings include township, range, section, meridian, latitude, longitude lines and of course elevations.
- Historical Maps of North America -- an incredible assortment of old maps from the 1800s showing railroads (the interstate highways of yesteryear) and many showing township/range/meridian lines
- Counties in each State -- simple maps showing county boundaries within a state. Also lots of data and statistics from the US census.
Historical Records
- Civil War Records -- scanned images of the "The War of the Rebellion", a compilation of the official records of both Union and Confederate armies, printed by the US Govt around 1890-1900 as several dozen thick volumes with tens of thousands of pages. A truly awesome undertaking by Cornell University
- The Turnbo Manuscripts -- this link seems to go out of date a lot. Better try a Google search for Turnbo Manuscripts, a huge collection of articles on life in Missouri and Arkansas during the mid to late 1800s. Stories range from hilarious to sad to downright gruesome. Subjects include Civil War, bears, panthers, practical jokes, etc.
General Genealogy
- US Presidents Genealogy -- did you know that "CLINTON" is NOT his real last name?
- USGenWeb -- census info, data archives, links to sites for most US counties, etc.
- GenForum -- a huge list of surnames with queries and responses
- Cyndi's List -- probably the most thorough and best organized list of genealogical website links around
Miscellaneous....
- Bible Gateway -- This site has the Bible online in several different versions and multiple languages. Pretty awesome...
- Screen It -- Movie reviews which let you "screen it" ahead of time for content (sex, violence, language, etc). Now you'll be forewarned about any unnecessary scenes that might be ruining an otherwise good movie.
- PSC, Inc. (formerly Percon) -- We just had to list Dennis' recent employer. Among other things Dennis worked on the Power Wedge (Decoder) and SnapShot (Input Device) products and most recently the Falcon 34x handheld computer/scanner.
- Air-Weigh -- Dennis' current employer, a producer of onboard scales for trucks and tractor-trailers. Among other things Dennis worked on the 5800 Truck Scale.
|
DOWNLOADs (of data we have compiled)
Land Purchases from the US Govt
The following files are lists of US government land sales in selected states to people of a specific last name. This data is already available online at the Land Record websites listed above but is tedious to get at. So as we accessed this data, we also compiled it into Word95 files that are much easier to handle. A couple cautions -- (1) The dates on the certificates are apparently for when they were issued, which may be a few years after the the land was actually purchased, and (2) These files are only as complete as the websites they were compiled from. If the BLM website only listed 80% of the land patents for a state, then that is all we have too. Interestingly, the Illinois UIC database seems more complete than BLM.
Marriage Records
- McLAUGHLIN in MAINE -- McLaughlin marriages in Penobscot Co, ME during the 1800s
- CLAY Co, TEXAS -- Transcribed marriage records from Clay Co, TX from it's early years through 1900 (1887-1900 transcribed by yours truly)
Other Records
- ROSECRANS in 1920 KANSAS -- Rosecrans (and variants) in the 1920 Soundex (R226) for Kansas
- MILLER land in Cooke Co, TX through 1902, Chronological -- Transcribed from the Cooke Co Deed Index books, includes all Miller land transactions in Cooke Co, TX through about 1902, listed in the order they appear in the record books (Excel format)
- MILLER land in Cooke Co, TX through 1902, Alphabetical -- Transcribed from the Cooke Co Deed Index books, includes all Miller land transactions in Cooke Co, TX through about 1902, listed in alphabetical order (Excel format)
- Jonas DAWSON speculations -- Theories about Jonas DAWSONs of Collin Co, TX, Benton Co, MO and Rabun Co, GA
|