Official Newsletter of The Georgia Genealogical Society Vol. 18, No.3 ~ September, 2011The Scribe

www.gagensociety.org

Author To Be Speaker At October Meeting

Georgia Land Lottery Book IntroducedPublication Covers

All Aspects Of Research

Author Paul K. Graham is pictured with one of the new Georgia Land Lottery Research books that arrived from the printer in April.

Susan Sloan

Paul K. Graham, author of the Georgia Genealogical Society’s new book, Georgia Land Lottery Research, will be the speaker at the GGS meeting on Saturday, Oct. 1. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the National Archives, 5780 Jonesboro Road in Morrow. The fee for GGS members is $25, with the charge for non-members being $35. Registrations must be received by Sept. 23. A $5 surcharge will be assessed for late registrations. Graham will speak on Land Research in Georgia.

MORNING SESSIONSHeadright and Bounty Land Beginning in the colonial era, Georgia distributed its land through the headright process, in which men obtained land based on the size of their household. Bounty land was later given as compensation for military service. Land distributed under these systems was often haphazardly arranged, making it challenging to identify property boundaries. Learn how to find plats and grants, interpret metes and bonds property descriptions, and correctly orient and locate land on a map.

Land Lottery Land Georgia changed its land distribution policies in 1803, creating uniform square surveys in new regions and distributing the lots by lottery. The land lots created from 1804 to 1832 are still used to describe property in two-thirds of the state. This session includes an overview of the land lottery process, instruction in locating all types of land lottery records, and a lesson in locating land lots.

The Georgia Genealogical Society has introduced a new book by Paul K. Graham entitled Georgia Land Lottery Research, the first-ever book-length guide to Georgia land lottery research. The 182-page, hardcover book is now on sale online and via postal mail for $30. Georgia distributed three quarters of its public land through eight lotteries held from 1805 to 1833. The book is a guide to the Georgia land lottery system, written for researchers who wish to develop a foundational understanding of land lots, the lottery process, and the associated records. The records are important for genealogists and historians who wish to document the land and people who participated in these events. The book begins with an introduction to the land lottery process and survey system, then outlines research strategies most useful to researchers. Later chapters explain records of participants, fortunate drawers, grants, and plats. The final section contains key facts, maps and lists of records for each land lottery. Benefits of the book include:

• Easy to understand introduction to the land lottery history and process

• Original maps to help locate land

• Ready-made plans for common research goals

• Description of contents of records and how they are connected

• Direct citations to microfilm rolls and boxes of original records

AFTERNOON SESSIONSMilitia Districts Militia districts are minor civil divisions within counties. They played important roles in the organization of activities and records at the county level. They were even used in property legal descriptions. Learn about their historic purposes, associated records, and boundaries.

Tax Digests Land has always been used as a basis for taxes, making tax digests a useful tool for researching

Please see October Talk, Page 4 Please see Lottery Book, Page 4

Vivian Price, EditorSociety Officers

Linda S. Hughes, PresidentSusan Sloan, Vice President

Marcia Peck Swanson, TreasurerSarah Rondeau, Recording Secretary

Joanne Smalley, Corresponding SecretaryKenneth H. Thomas, Jr., Historian/Archivist

Mike Brubaker, Past President

September, 2011 ~ Page 2

The Scribe

Deadlines: The first day of January, March, August, and October.

Publication: February, April, September and November. Materials for publication: Send to Vivian Price

3570 Hildon Circle, Chamblee, GA 30341msaffold@bellsouth.net

Advertising: Members -- Quarter page, $10; half page, $40; full page, $80. Non-members -- Quarter page, $25; half page, $50;

full page, $100Address changes: Send to Phyllis Yancey,

2541 Oakridge Place, Decatur, GA 30033-2126pyancey@att.net

The Scribe via email: Write to Vivian Pricemsaffold@bellsouth.net

P. O. Box 550247 Atlanta, GA 30355-2747www.gagensociety.org

The Scribe

The official quarterly newsletter of

The GeorGia GenealoGical SocieTy

Our mission is to collect, preserve & disseminate

genealogical information.

Please note: The Georgia Genealogical Society has no permanent staff or library and cannot assist

with personal research.

From the PresidentLinda S. Hughes

DirectorsBeth Olson, Publicity

Phyllis Yancey, MembershipSue VerHoef, Publications

Nathan Mathews, Policies and ProceduresEmma Davis-Hamilton, At-Large

Karen Molohon, ProgramsEx - Officio Members

Linda Woodward Geiger, CG, CGL, WebmasterElizabeth Snow, Quarterly EditorVivian Price, Newsletter Editor

As I mulled over various topics to write about in my column this quarter, I kept coming back to the fact of just how much fun genealogy research is to most of us. I’ve often described it to non-genealogy friends as a cross between being a detective and putting together a jig-saw puzzle. That’s over-simplified, of course, but it gets the idea across. It’s easy to say the thrill is in the hunt, and to some extent it is. It’s easy to say that disproving relationships is as valuable as proving them, and it can be. But nothing thrills like success. One of my most thrilling moments was finding two deeds in Kentucky showing land transactions between my gg-grandfather and three of his brothers, all identified as the sons of the person I long suspected was their father. My husband recently found a snippet in an unindexed book of court records in North Carolina that proved his ggg-grandfather had in fact died in Georgia in 1836 when all records about him stopped. This grandfather was not the person with the same name who was later found in Alabama with a new young wife! I could go on and on, but you’ve all been there and understand the thrill. Of course, there are frustrations too. The ones we all moan about are the loss of the 1890 census and burned counties in general. However, there are other incidents that frustrate. I was recently in one of our well-respected libraries here in Georgia and was told I could not photograph books – not original records, but books of abstracts. The only reason they could give me was that the board has made this policy because someone had been taking photos of the pictures on the walls. Another recent frustration happened in a courthouse in Virginia. We were told we could bring our laptop into the original records area, but we couldn’t plug it into an electrical outlet “because we have to protect our data.” Huh? That same courthouse would not allow cameras, nail files or cell phones inside the courthouse but did not provide lockers to store such things. We suspect all the thieves in the county knew where to go to steal a cell phone – in the parked cars at the courthouse. You may have read recently about the great disappointment faced by Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling. As part of the research for a BBC television program, it was discovered that the WWI hero her entire family had believed to be their ancestor was not theirs. There were two men in France with identical names during the same time period, both of whom fought in WWI, and a treasured family story went up in flames. Rowling admitted that she cried several times. We can all identify. Many times the same thing can cause both joy and frustration. I refer to the ever-growing amount of data on the Internet. As Ancestry, GenealogyBank, Footnote, Georgia Archives, Library of Virginia, South Carolina

Please See President’s Column, Page 7

The Scribe September, 2011 ~ Page 3

Name __________________________________________________________________________________

Street __________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip __________________________________________________________________________

Email Address _________________________________________________________________________

Contact Karen Molohon at 770-421-1522 (evenings) or program@gagensociety.org with any questions.

Make checks payable to Georgia Genealogical Society and mail with completed form to:Dept. W P. O. Box 550247 Atlanta, GA 30355-2747

Number members __ Number non-members __ Total enclosed $ __________Please provide names of all registrants, so nametags can be made.

____________________________________________________________________________

JOIN NOW AND SAVE! INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP: $35, FAMILY MEMBERSHIP: $40

Please tell us how you heard about this meeting (check one): Brochure? ____ Ken Thomas’ column ____ Newspaper article ____ Web site ____

Other (please explain) ____________________________________________________________

REGISTRATIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY SEPTEMBER 23A $5 surcharge will be assessed for late registrations.

Land Research in Georgia

• Headright and Bounty Land

• Land Lottery Land• Militia Districts

• Tax Digests• County Land

Records

Lunch will not be served; there are many restaurants near the Archives.

featuring Paul K. Graham

Saturday, Oct. 1National Archives

5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow

Registration: 9:15-10 a.m. Program: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.$25 Members, $35 Non-Members

September, 2011 ~ Page 4 The Scribe

property ownership. Use these records to identify property descriptions in tax digests and follow that information to associated grant and deed records. Learn how surviving tax digests can stand in for lost records in burned counties.

County Land Records Many of the most important land records are maintained in county courthouses. Deeds are plats are maintained by the Superior Court. Property transfers are also recorded in estate papers in the Probate Court. This session explains how to locate and interpret deeds, and to trace property through probate. Also learn how to research county boundary changes, a key aspect of researching land history.

THE SPEAKER Graham is a genealogist at ProGenealogists, the research division of Ancestry.com, specializing in genealogical problem solving among Southern families. He graduated with a master’s degree in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University and holds a professional certificate in geographic information systems. He became a Certified Genealogist in 2009. He moved to Salt Lake City in 2011 after calling Georgia his home since 1989. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and began his career as a title examiner in Georgia, gaining valuable knowledge of property and probate law and records. He has performed genealogical and historical research for clients since 2004. Graham researched the ancestry of actor-comedian Chris Tucker, an Atlanta native, for the television series African American Lives, which first aired on PBS in February 2006. In 2007 he researched the childhood history and family secrets of Marine Corps Lieutenant General Victor Krulak (dec.) for biography Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U. S. Marine, by author Robert Coram. In addition to Georgia Land Lottery Research, Graham is co-author of Research in Georgia (part of the National Genealogical Society’s “Research in the States” series) and compiler of Atlas of East and Coastal Georgia Watercourses and Militia Districts. In 2004 and 2005 he abstracted and compiled records of the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery in two volumes. He has published a number of articles in the Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, and his “A Blue Ridge Family for Alsaph Briggs Barker” was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (June 2010). In December 2005, the Georgia Genealogical Society presented Graham an award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Genealogy” for his 1805 land lottery publications. His personal research interests include historic surveys and land use, and the post-Civil War history of southern cities and their people.

Contents include:• The land lotteries• Land lottery

surveys• Research strategies• Lottery

participants• Fortunate drawers• Grants• Plats and maps• A section entitled

Beyond the Basics• Sections on the

Georgia Genealogical SocietyPublication Order Form

I would like to order _______ copies of Georgia Land Lottery Research at $30.00 each.

Total amount ______________

Name __________________________________

Address ________________________________

Telephone ______________________________

Email __________________________________

Mail this form with check payable to: Georgia Genealogical Society P. O. Box 550247 Atlanta, GA 30355-2747

All book sales are final. To order this or other GGS publications, go to:

www.gagensociety.org

October TalkContinued from Page 1

Lottery BookContinued from Page 1

1805, 1807, 1820, 1821, 1827, 1832 (land), 1832 (gold) and 1833 fractions lotteries.

To order the book please print out the order form and mail with check or money order to GGS at P. O. Box 550247, Atlanta, GA 30355-2747. The book also may be ordered via the GGS Web site using credit card or Pay Pal.

At the May quarterly meeting, volunteer Mary Martha Wilson sold society publications, including the new land lottery book.

The Scribe September, 2011 ~ Page 5

From the directorDavid W. Carmicheal, Georgia Archives

As you know by now, further budget reductions forced the Georgia Archives to reduce its hours again on July 1. The Archives is now open just two days a week — Friday and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. — making us the state archives with the fewest hours of any in the country. The situation is frustrating both to you, the researchers, and to the staff here. Like you, we believe that Georgia, with its rich history, should find some way to keep our archives open during regular business hours each week.

As the state archivist, my concerns about our budget go well beyond the history of our state: the primary purpose of the archives is to identify and preserve the state government records that protect you as citizens. We locate and preserve the records that protect the state’s property rights, its mineral and water rights and your civil rights. The current budget weakens one of the basic foundations

of a democratic society and places our citizens at unnecessary legal and financial risk. Unfortunately, this particular aspect of the archives’ work is performed out of sight and becomes visible only when the system breaks down. I was reminded of that recently when a reporter asked me about a current boundary dispute between two counties. The dispute has been protracted and has cost the taxpayers more than a million dollars so far, and the reporter wanted to know if it was unusual for such disputes to occur. I told him that in my eleven years as state archivist I have witnessed seventeen such disputes (or potential disputes). In nearly every case the archives had excellent records regarding the boundaries in question, and most were resolved after a quiet afternoon in the archives reference room. For this one dispute, however, no one had saved good records. As

a result, the counties are fighting and spending scarce tax dollars — a circumstance that could have been avoided with the identification and preservation of just a few records. I’m afraid that such scenarios could become more common in the future.

We at the archives continue to believe very strongly in what we do. We intend to continue protecting your rights to the best of our ability, and we see no reason why the state archives with the fewest hours can’t continue to give the best customer service of any state archives in the country. Many of you have expressed concern and sympathy to the staff at the archives, and we appreciate your support. We honestly believe this budget difficulty will pass and we will emerge stronger than ever. Thanks to people like you, we have every reason to keep hoping!

WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS

Donna Bingham, ConyersEmy Bonistall, NorcrossHope Campbell, AlbanyJoAnn J. and Walker Chewning, LawrencevilleMax Felton, Broken Arrow, Okla.Lori Cook-Folger, Hot Springs, N. C.Larry S. Davis, Summerville, S. C.Diane Gawedzinski, Duncanville, TexasRobert C. Grant, Miami, Fla.Erika Hall, Ponte Verdra, Fla.Robert E. Harper, Ruston, La.J. Wren and Beverly B. Harris, Jr., ColumbusJo Anne Horne, San Antonio, TexasRichard E. Jenkins, Jr., Atlanta

Robert Laurens, BufordJohn P. Lewis, Sarasota, Fla.Elizabeth Matthews, Oxford, Ga.Greg Matthews, Burlington, N. C.Helen Matthews, AtlantaBennington Merrill, NewnanWilliam Miller, Kailua, HawaiiPaula Montague, St. Simons IslandDavid Neal, Warner RobinsCharles J. Nesbit, Jr., Pfafftown, N. C.John Ralls, Fremont, Calif.W. Cliff Roberts, SuwaneeJoe Stoner, AtlantaSandra J. Vance, AustellThomas F. Walsh, Richmond Hill, Ga. Pamela Wright, Clarkdale

A letter received recently by Georgia Genealogical Society Membership Director Phyllis Yancey illustrates the value to a GGS membership:

Dear Ms. Yancey, You might find what compelled me to join amusing: As you undoubtedly know, the society had a booth at the NGS (National Genealogical Society) Conference in Charleston last spring, and that members were distributing old issues of the Quarterly there. I happened to pick up an issue from Summer 1994 (17 years ago!) and found a query about the Adams family of Baker Co. Georgia and Laurens and Newberry Counties in South Carolina. Since this is my paternal grandmother’s family and I’ve been working on them this past year, I searched the Web to see if I could find an email address for the gentleman who had posted the query. I didn’t find one, but I did establish that he was still at the address given a year or two ago, so I wrote him a letter.

He turns out to be a third cousin. What’s more, I was able to share with him a group photo including his mother and grandmother with my grandmother and two other cousins from the 1930s – a photo which he hadn’t seen before.

The serendipity of the story was enough to get me to join the society, something I had been meaning to do for years but had never pushed high enough on my priority list. Regards, John Ralls, Freemont, Calif.

We Get Letters

September, 2011 ~ Page 6 The Scribe

CARRIE MOORE ADAMSON Carrie Moore Adamson, wife of the late Raymond J. Adamson and honorary president of the Augusta Genealogical Society, died on July 6 in Augusta. A native of Clearfield County, Penn., she was the daughter of Edward Parks Moore and Stella Narehood Moore. She was president of the Augusta Friends of the Library and served on the commission for the 200th Celebration of the Founding of Augusta. Known for her interest in history and genealogy, Mrs. Adamson was a frequent speaker to civic and education organizations. Mrs. Adamson was charter president of the Augusta Genealogical Society and later served in many other capacities. She is the author of the book, Genealogical Letters: When Your Ox Is In the Ditch, and edited a book on the Summerville Cemetery in Augusta. Speaking to groups throughout the Southeast, her lectures often emphasized migration patterns of the Scots-Irish and other ethnic groups into the South. She was a lecturer in 1988 and 1992 at National Genealogical Society conferences. Known locally as “the cemetery lady” for conducting innumerable tours of local cemeteries, especially Summerville and Magnolia, she was the recipient of a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History for research and interpretation of Augusta, Georgia cemeteries. During the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Augusta Genealogical Society in 2004, a bronze plaque was unveiled at the entrance of the AGS library, which she founded, to name the building in honor of charter members Raymond and Carrie Adamson. Mrs. Adamson was honored in 2005 by the Georgia Humanities Council with the Governor’s Award, the first presented in the field of genealogy, and in 2008 by the Georgia Archives for Lifetime Achievement. Mrs. Adamson was preceded in death by her husband Raymond Adamson, her parents and brothers Earl Edward “Bud” Moore and Leonard Parks Moore.

MIMI JO HILL BUTLER Mimi Jo Hill Butler, 70 of Jasper, died March 17, after a six-month battle with cancer. She was the wife of Robert L. Butler and daughter of Mildred and J. B. Hill. She is survived by daughters, Jo Ellen Butler and Karen McClellan, son in law, Shawn McClellan, and grandsons, Jordan and Ben McClellan. Mrs. Butler was born September 12, 1940 in Pickens County. She attended Tate High School, Young Harris College and graduated from Emory University with a degree in History and Sociology. She continued her education with a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of Georgia. She served in education for 30-plus years in Cherokee County. Mrs. Hill was involved in genealogy and historical

GGS Member Donates BannerLongtime Georgia Genealogical Society member Leroy Gardner recently donated a banner that the society can display at local meetings and conventions. The banner conveniently collapses into an easy carrying configuration.

Vivian Price

IN MEMORIAM

preservation in Cobb and Pickens for many years. She was active in the Cobb Genealogical Society, worked to get a portion of the town of Tate on the National Register of Historic Places and helped in the genealogy room of the Jasper Library.

The Athens-Clarke County Library has begun a renovation and addition project which is scheduled to take 20 months. The Heritage Room closed August 1, so that it can be renovated and reconfigured to be a more usable space in the future. A small, basic collection remains available in the Reference Department of the library. In addition, staff members are still available by email (heritageroom@arlsmail.org), phone (706-613-3650) or in person to assist researchers.

Athens Library Undergoing Renovation

The Scribe September, 2011 ~ Page 7

President’s Column

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Archives and Family Search (just to mention a few) digitize more and more records, we can research 24/7 and still not make a dent in what’s available. Information overload has become a reality. We sometimes find information faster than we can process it, document it and tie it to our ancestors in our software programs. Paper piles up, and we hope we live long enough to sort it all out so that our kids won’t toss out a lifetime of research. Joy is also traveling to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, to state archives and libraries across our nation and to regional, state and national genealogical meetings and conferences (including our own quarterly meetings). I’ve had the good fortune to visit the archives in most of the southern states. Perhaps one day all of their holdings will be digitized and on the Internet, but for now, those visits are wonderful. There’s nothing quite like holding 200 or 300-year old records in your hands. There’s also nothing quite like standing on the very land where one of your ancestors stood. There’s nothing quite like standing in a church cemetery where three-fourths of the dead are your ancestors or relatives. There’s nothing quite like meeting new cousins and finding common ground with these previous strangers. There’s nothing quite like finding a photograph of an ancestor and seeing a resemblance to a living relative. There’s nothing quite like sitting in a lecture at a national conference and having a speaker give you new ideas of where and how to research – ideas that leads to a new discovery. In short, there’s nothing quite like genealogy. Go out and experience the joy! As a very old song states: “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.” The joys definitely outnumber the frustrations.

WEBINARS COMING SOON The Georgia Genealogical Society will begin offering free Webinars in September. The online seminars will allow registrants to participate in educational sessions from the comfort of their homes. Webinars will be offered the third Monday of each month at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Topics and details are being developed. Check the GGS Web site at www.gagensociety.org for details.

SAVE THE DATE The Georgia Genealogical Society’s annual awards meeting and luncheon will be held on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. Speakers will be Joanne Smalley and Terry Barton. Smalley will speak on the Research Value of Georgia County Property Tax Digests. Barton will talk about Autosomal Block DNA — the newest DNA test for genealogy.

LUNCH AND LEARN Amanda Mros, Archivist I, and Anne Smith, Assistant Director, will present Your Home’s Family Tree at the Georgia Archives on Friday, Oct. 14. Learn about resources available to help you trace the history of a building or property. The event will be held from noon-1 p.m.; admission is free. The Georgia Archives is located at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow.

Continued from Page 2

Vivian Price

Seen At The MeetingA large crowd on hand at the May meeting was treated to an informative talk by Christine Rose on researching the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. At right, Carol Bell and Scott Dickson wait for the program to begin. Liz Snow, the new GGS Quarterly editor (far left), was introduced to the group by society president Linda Hughes.

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Day Phone ___________________________ Evening Phone ___________________________

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Please make checks payable and mail to:Georgia Genealogical SocietyP. O. Box 550247Atlanta, GA 30355-2747

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