Presentation on Land Records and Practicum #1 Scheduled for Saturday, March 15th

We are trying to offer topics that have not been addressed in recent years. Thanks to the expertise of Liz Stratton, we are excited to offer sessions about the use of land records to enhance your genealogical research. Liz is passionate about this area and has participated in several classes related to this topic.

So I guess we shouldn't have been surprised at the response to this topic by our members. This Saturday at 11:00 AM on the Third Floor of the Main Library, Liz will do a presentation on "Surveying Land Records for Genealogical Gold." The discussion will not be limited to Hamilton Co. Land Records. This talk is open to everyone, and we encourage everyone to come. No registration is required.

This session will be followed by a Practicum Session in the Computer Lab located near the Genealogy and Local History Department. The first Practicum will address the topic:  "Who Owned Land and Where Are the Records?" Case studies will demonstrate how to identify likely land owners and how to locate property records on-line, on microfilm or in person. Due to the space limitations, the 1:00 PM session filled quickly. Thanks to the generosity of Liz Stratton, we worked with librarian Chris Smith to add an additional session beginning at 3:00 PM. Twelve people on the waiting list were informed by email of this additional session. There are a few remaining spots. If you are still interested, come on Saturday and we'll hope for the best.

Practicum #2 scheduled for March 29th will address the "Intricacies of Land Indexes." Discover different types of indexes and learn to identify land records likely to answer specific genealogical questions from the index alone. Strategies for overcoming index limitations will be explored.

The first session, scheduled for 1:00 PM, is full. An additional session has been added that will begin at 10:00 AM. Those on the Waiting List will be notified by email that they have been accepted and can arrive at 1:00. There are a few additional spaces available. 

Practicum #3 scheduled for April 5th will discuss "Reading and Interpreting Deeds." Several deeds will be reviewed to familiarize participants with deed terminology and structure. Learn how to eliminate ‘boilerplate,’ and extract family relationships from deeds even when they are not directly stated.

Again, the first session, scheduled for 1:00 AM, is full. An additional session has been added that will begin at 10:00 AM. Those on the Waiting List will be notified by email that they have been accepted and can arrive at 1:00. There are a few additional spaces available. 

Practicum #4 to be held on Saturday, April 19th is an "Introduction to Property Maps." This practicum begins with a brief introduction to the myriad ways to create or find property maps. Using the land description on deeds, participants will use online resources to locate a period map of the property or find it on Google Earth. 

The first session, scheduled for 1:00 PM, is full. An additional session has been added that will begin at 10:00 AM. Those on the Waiting List will be notified by email that they have been accepted and can arrive at 1:00. There are a few additional spaces available. 

Participants must attend the initial presentation on Saturday the 15th at 11:00 AM. The lab experiences stand alone by topic, and those who preregistered were able to pick and choose from among them.

If you have any additional questions, please contact Kathy Reed at khreed@cinci.rr.com. We appreciate being able to collaborate with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Hope to see you Saturday.

Submitted by:  Kathy Reed