AncestorNews: Get Thee To A Library         The Latest AncestorNews from Nancy Hendrickson         More Computer-Related Genealogy Advice           .         Ethnic Toolkits Web Exclusive Forms Bookstore Soundex Code Generator Resources Writing Workshops Newsletter       Receive biweekly research tips and leads on new resources via email.		Get Thee To A Library by Nancy Hendrickson I haven't spent much time researching my Brooks family line because I never knew anything more than the name of my fourth-great-grandmother Rachel Brooks. But on a recent trip to a local library, in reading through microfiche about people in Bureau County, Ill., I (finally!) stumbled upon a reference to Rachel's children and her father, Benjamin. It seems Benjamin received a bounty land warrant for his Revolutionary War service in Highland County, Ohio. Of course, that sent me to the Highland County books, which had several excellent stories about how Benjamin and the family came down the Ohio river, how their homemade canoe sank the first day out, and how Rachel's brother was a great and fearless hunter. That one little microfiche also briefly mentioned that Rachel's father-in-law had been a member of the Society of Friends in Virginia and North Carolina. When I got home, I went to the General Land Office Records site and found Benjamin's record, complete with an image of the original document. Interestingly, although Ohio is a public land state with a rectangular survey system, this land warrant was in metes and bounds (shown). More to research here. I also went looking for Rachel's in-laws in online Quaker records and found them in North Carolina's Rich Square meeting. My next quest is to track down meeting minutes so I can see why half the family got booted out. One of my grannies, I did discover, was disowned for drinking an excess of hard liquor. Oh, those ancestors! A side note: Thank you for all your e-mails about neglect at the Battleground National Cemetery in Washington, DC. So far I've received two messages saying my inquiry would be passed along to someone else. I'll keep you updated. To learn more: • Metes and Bounds/Rectangular Survey users.arn.net/~billco/uslpr3.htm • Where to Find Quaker Meeting Records www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/records.htm • Highland County Ohio Reference Books www.usgennet.org/usa/oh/county/highland/highlandlu.html • Bureau County Illinois History and Genealogy www.piperspages.com/Bureau • Revolutionary War County Land www.genealogytoday.com/news/archive/999news.htm Nancy Hendrickson is a contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine. She also is a family historian, freelance writer and the author of two astronomy books. Her Web site is at www.ancestornews.com. E-mail her at stjoemo@pobox.com.
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