HISTORYGEO.COM GENEALOGY DATABASE REVIEW : THE CHEROKEE ALLOTMENTS IN OKLAHOMA ARE EXCELLENT #2

https://historygeo.com/  The database I used was within a genealogy library. This link may not bring up THE CHEROKEE ALLOTMENT Oklahoma link... If not, do see if your library subscribes to this database!

Ross, Carlisle, Miegs, Newton, Jordon....

Tehee, Rattlingourd, (See Range 22-east)

Walkabout

Bearpaw

Pigeon

Hazelwood

Wood

Star

McClure

(If you know your Cherokee history some of these names will be familiar to you...)

MOST OF THE NAMES ARE ENGLISH - AMERICAN - but that's OK. If you know the surname and you want to check out the Cherokee who were moved to Oklahoma, there is abundant possibility here...

The state map is sectioned into ranges and the land ownership by Cherokee is indicated by parcel size. The boundary is also shown between the Cherokee and the Creek Nation which you will see at Muskogee County  (See Range 19-east)

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HISTORYGEO.COM GENEALOGY DATABASE REVIEW : INTERESTING HISTORICAL MAP COLLECTION #1

https://historygeo.com/  There is a surname function.

There are many tourist maps on the Internet today and various sources for old maps including National and local archives. But I thought I'd give his database a try while at a genealogy library.

Maps made about the time they lived in a city, town, village, hamlet are the best.

I love to take genealogy writing a bit further, to include some understanding of where our ancestors lived, which is a whole lot about how they lived.

The Landowners Project is ongoing and to be honest, the area I was interested in was not (yet) included.

We can see if our ancestors lived near a river, a school, a cemetery, a church, or a factory - maybe where they worked. We can see if they lived in a single family home (house) or a townhouse or rowhouse, or perhaps a hotel. (The name of the school, cemetery, church or factory can link you to school, cemetery, church, or employment records.)

We can link census with address with a map. We can use landowner maps to also seek out deeds and inheritances, land grants, squatters rights.

Sometimes we can link the old map with the new, or an address with a Google Street View or Google Earth.

I used the HISTORICAL MAPS for an area I grew up in. I looked at 1850, 1862, 1890, and 1898.  All in the distant past, long before I grew up there. But I could see the names of the landowners had become the names of the streets and roads. It was interesting when a property was listed as "so and so's heirs" and when the creek showed up with an actual name. Also listed were stores, parsonages, and then where the railroad came through...

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HEADRIGHT LAND GRANTS BEGAN IN THE COLONIES WITH THE VIRGINIA COMPANY

What was the incentive for a person to leave Europe and immigrate to a new country across the Atlantic Ocean? Transportation was on a wooden sail ship - small - called a bark (a bark had three or more masts) and rugged.  One might not survive the trip or leave family behind, never to be seen again.

Often it was the promise of land by HEADRIGHT or of employment.  Back in Europe those who were not in line to inherit, because they were not first sons, thought the idea of owning land despite the risks was the only way to get ahead.  But what if you were already here and experiencing a labor shortage?  You could import a laborer and become entitled to land!  Head in the term headright refers to ONE PERSON and that person might come as an indentured servant or as a laborer.  Many American Ancestors came this way.  The system spread from 1618 in Jamestown, Virginia  - from The Virginia Colony (which was the same as the Virginia Company) to other states such as Maryland, Georgia, and the Carolinas. For those who imported a laborer, the grants away usually fifty (50) acres per HEAD.

The system, which spread also to the Plymouth Colony, is controversial also because the indentured servant might spend about seven years paying off their voyage costs to the person who imported them, but then slaves were also brought in this way.  In a future post we'll look at the implications of that practice.

If you're searching for Colonial American Ancestors, consider learning the history of the region you find them and also look for documentation of land ownership or grants.

HERE is a link to AMERICAN HISTORY CENTRAL

Excerpt: In 1618, the Virginia Company approved the “Charter of Orders, Lawes, and Privileges” that implemented the Headright System. The system provided an incentive to wealthy investors to send more workers to Jamestown and the Virginia Colony.

Most of the workers the investors paid for were indentured servants or enslaved people.

The investor retained ownership of the land they received for each worker.

The system contributed to the growth of the population in the colonies, especially Virginia, along with the expansion of the lower class and chattel slavery.

The Headright System was modified in 1699 so investors could not receive land for indentured servants or slaves.

NATIVE AMERICANS and THE HOMESTEAD ACT

Though Native Americans were displaced by Homestead Act land holders and often headed back to reservations, in genealogy we are thorough and never assume, so don't assume that people of Native American heritage did not also apply for land grants or that they all lived on "Indian Reservations."

PLAT MAPS ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN LOCAL HISTORY : KID GENEALOGY

I'm not sure how "Plat" maps got their name. 

(If any of my readers know the answer to that, please leave a comment!)

Plat maps are maps that often feature the property lines of farms or rural areas, areas that may now be cities or suburbs.  In a way they are like zoning maps today.

Plat maps have the names of the owners of that land on a specific year and can tell you so much about the early settlers of an area,  and lead you to more information such as who got Land Grants, names to search for in early wills and land sales, etc.

Something that can be a fun early genealogy research lesson for kids is to find the Plat map for where you live now and see how many of the roads, lakes, and other geographical features bear the names of those early settlers say right before and after the Civil War.

I like the big old fashioned maps that have been replaced by digitalized editions on the internet as I find them far easier to read, but if you live far away from a library that houses the big maps this is a good option. Locally, you might find that a historical society or university library has a collection that you can use without being a member or student.

After the American Revolution, many soldiers who fought for little or no pay and lived were rewarded with land.  These are called "Reparation Lands."  Not exactly "40 acres and a mule" but something like that.

Looking at the same area before and after the Civil War is also an interesting history lesson.

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DEPRECIATION LANDS - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Depreciation Lands? You may have seen this on old Plat Maps or a reference in a Land Grant, Will, or Historical text. (Link now to the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania historical library!) Back during the Revolutionary War, many soldiers were solicited with a promise. If the war was won against Britain, and the land became the property of the fledgling government, the soldiers who could not be paid while active would be paid by being given a tract of land. These lands were granted and are DEPRECIATION LANDS... You see DEPRECIATION LANDS in THE ORIGINAL COLONIES, particularly in "frontier" places like Western Pennsylvania. Now what I wonder is why they weren't called APPRECIATION LANDS!