Mapping with Google Earth: Metes and Bounds Deed

 I recently took on the challenge to identify and map my 4 times great grandfather's land in Highland County, Ohio. The description of the land from the July 8th, 1820 deed states: 

"...all that tract or parcel of land lying and being in the County of Highland and State of Ohio on Rocky Fork bounded and described as follows: Beginning at a beech and poplar in the line of Roses Survey No. 541; thence with the line north 48 degrees 15" W one hundred & sixty two poles to the middle of the Rocky Fork aforesaid; thence from the same beginning poplar and beech N 70 degrees W one hundred and seventy six poles to the middle of the creek aforesaid; thence down the same as it meanders so far as to intersect the first line in the middle of the creek aforesaid containing thirty four acres be it the same more or less being part of a survey of 500 acres entered for William S Hawkins No. 3320..."

I started my journey by Googling for historical maps of Highland County, Ohio. I found an 1871 Atlas at Historic Map Works. I then located the map page for Paint Township. There were actually 2 pages and sure enough, Rose Survey No. 541 is marked right on the edge of the county next to Ross County. The map also shows Paint Creek, where it forks and the Rocky Fork creek that comes off the fork. 

Note that right below the Rose Survey is Hawkins No. 1936. William's land was part of a Hawkins survey albeit No 3320. Given that the atlas I found was for 1871 and the deed is from 1820, I assumed the Hawkins portion had been resurveyed between 1820 and 1871. The other markers (Roses Survey No. 541 and the Rocky Fork), gave me confidence I was in the right place. 

I then went to Google Earth and found the Paint Creek, the fork and the Rocky Fork. I noticed a dam has been put in place at some point in time. The top red circle is the dam and the bottom red circle is the Fork.

If you visually compare the two images above you can see they look very similar. To better compare the two, I used a snippet of the map to create an overlay in Google earth. With some stretching and turning I was able to get it to line up fairly well. I reduced the opacity so you can see both maps at once.

Then I set about trying to follow the deed's description using a Polygon in Google Earth to map out where William's land likely was. 

I'm certainly no pro, but I feel confident that I'm in the right area. I even added a couple of his notable neighbors by doing the same process with their deeds. 

Nicholas Swadley owned all of the dark purple and the orange land. Nicholas Swadley was William Poland's father-in-law. Nicholas sold the dark purple portion to Peter Houghman who was the brother of the man that raised William. The orange slice was William Troth the father of Job Troth that would become William's first son-in-law when he married William's oldest daughter Matilda. 

This was a fun project and it is nice to be able to visualize where my ancestor's lived. If you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it! 

Research Trip to Ohio

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a genealogy research trip to Ohio. I had a fabulous time getting to focus on my genealogy for a whole week! I want to share my experience with everyone as well as my lessons learned.

I road-tripped from Madison, Wisconsin to Columbus, Ohio and listened to genealogy podcasts along the way. I found this not only inspiring, but it also seemed to make the drive time go by so fast! By the time I made it to Columbus, I was more fired up than ever to get to researching.

I spent 2 days at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. My plan of attack was to go through newspapers that are not available online yet (that I can find!) as well as to look for any Poland's or Houghman's in Highland County, Ohio or Ross County, Ohio from the earliest records to about 1830.

I found myself wearing thin with the newspaper research, so I didn't get through nearly what I wanted to there. I did, however; spend a lot of time pouring through all the books the library had on Highland and Ross counties. I took pictures with my phone of the front cover, any important preface information, the index and the pages of interest for each book. I even took pictures of the front cover and the index pages for those that did not have any Poland or Houghman (or name variations) listed. This way, I could document what I looked at and what I did not find. As we all know, what we don't find is just as important as what we do find!

In the hotel room after the library closed, I downloaded all my photos to my computer. I cleaned them up, gave them identifiable names, organized them into folders on my computer and added them all to Evernote so they would be searchable. This kept me pretty busy until I needed to sleep for the next day. I can't decide if I liked this method of gathering data or not. The pictures aren't perfect, but you can read them. Here are some examples:

 

After I left Columbus, I drove down to Hillsboro in Highland County, Ohio. This is where my William Poland was married in 1810. In Highland County, I visited the Court House and was allowed to look through all the old marriage returns, wills, court order books, etc. I found a couple of possible items that I didn't already have, but nothing to break down my brick wall yet. I then went over to the administration building and spent several hours obtaining copies of multiple deed records.

After the courthouse, I went to the  Southern Ohio Genealogical Society library. I met the most wonderful ladies there. We had such an amazing afternoon. They even hooked me up with another fine lady that opened up the Highland County Historical Society Museum and gave me a personal tour! I got to see items from the area and time frame that my William Poland lived there. Including this chain used to survey Highland County land.

They even had a cabin outside that had been originally built in 1830.

All in all, I had a fabulous time! It would be hard for me to have a bad time while getting to do genealogy! I did come away from the experience with a few lessons learned though. 

The lessons I think I learned are:

• I still have not perfected an optimal research plan for trips. I still found myself getting excited and jumping from one thing to the other. I did have a better idea of what I was looking for this time, but putting that into context with all that was available was still challenging. I still need to do a better job of researching the contents of a repositories catalog before I head out. 
• Less time messing with files at night and more time re-focusing for the next day would have served me better. 
• Reach out more. When I reached out to the local society, I was amazed at the help and comradery I found. 

Preparations for Research Trip to Ohio

I am off to Ohio to research the Poland family! I'm so excited!

The earliest record I have been able to find for William Poland is his marriage record in 1810 Highland County, Ohio. I have other sources that indicate that William Poland was born in Virginia, but I'm not sure what part of Virginia or who his parents may have been. So, I'm off to Ohio to see if I can determine when William Poland may have first landed in Ohio. Hopefully, I can find some clues as to what part of Virginia and/or who his parents may have been.

When William Poland married Mary Swadley in 1810 Highland County, Ohio, he would have been 21/22 years old. I'm thinking this may restrict him from most earlier records due to his young age. My plan then, is to look for Poland families either in the area where William ended up, the surrounding areas or any areas east that would maybe be part of the migration from Virginia.

Also, I'm going to look for Houghman/Hoffman/Huffman families. I have a theory that William may have been a 4 year old that was bound out to the Houghman family in Loudoun County, VA. See my other blog post for more details on my theory. While I'm in Ohio, I want to look for any groups that William Poland may have been a part of which may include the Houghman family.

My plan of attack:

• Create a Research Plan ✓
• Identify Research Locations, Contact Information, and hours ✓
• Create a To-Do List✓
• Ensure I will have the right tools with me such as: tablet/computer, access to my notes (using Evernote), and charging cables! ✓

My main Research Plan goal is to determine when William Poland came to Ohio. I have identified what I already know, what types of sources I would like to check, where to look for those sources and a list of items to keep in mind such as county boundary changes. I will also have with me my research plans for "Determining who William's parents are" and "Is William the 4 year old bound out to the Houghman family". 

I want to try to stay focused as much as possible. I'm going to try to flush out all possible sources that may indicate when William first arrived in Ohio. Then, if I have time, work on the other research plans. 

The sources I'm thinking I need to try to find are: 

• Tax Lists
• Newspapers
• Land Records
• Court Records
• County Histories
• Ohio First Families

Please drop me a comment if you know of any other sources I should be checking. 

Research Locations

I have been to Highland county three times already. That is where I found William's marriage record and the will packet for Mary's father Nicholas Swadley. I have not, however, exhausted the court records in Highland County. I plan to visit the Highland County courthouse and view the early court records. I also have not been able to visit the Highland County Historical Society, so that is on my list as well. 

A main research location I plan to visit this time is the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. I have reached out to the Ohio Genealogical Society (which I hope to visit also) and they pointed me to the Ohio History Connection for Newspapers. 

Other than that, I will go where the search leads me! Depending, of course, on the time I have due to having to go back to work. 😔

Well, wish me luck! I will share whatever I find when I get back.