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Show imp 'nrrir id v SECTION SATUR&Y. SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 EDITOR Elyssa Andruv 344 2553 eandrustersldextra com LaRae Free Kerr It s All Relatives LAND RECORDS t f 4 111. V- - 1 3 0f I J SUCCEED FOR iot n old downtown Frederick, the 1820 home of I Md.vstands Dr. and Mrs. John Baltzell, restored rooms beautifully rated into a museum. deco- -' My daughter and I ogled the items as we made our way to the basement but we could not be diverted from our goal. The Historical Society of Frederick County filled the basement, and that was where we went, probing for Perkins family history ..treasure. 'Among the census, probate, tax and other records. we' found the best Perkins information in deeds, Owning land was and is a big deal. In Europe, most of the land was owned and controlled by gentry and royalty. But anybody could own land in America, a brand-neconcept in the world. Consequently, land records were carefully kept, starting with British Crown ' GARY REYESSan Jose Mercury News work on a home in Waveland, Miss. CityTeam Ministries have been sending volunteers ; from around the country since last September to help victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes. CityTeam Ministries volunteers mm 4i n il ttt immILNVJ run 9 T grants. Ministry 's volunteers improve aith coast through works oh Katrina-ravage- d Kim Vo 5AM jOSE VtKCURV It had been BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. two decades since Seth Schapiro had done any missionary work, but Hurricane Katrina nagged at him. Fellow church members went to the South to distribute food, build cabins and pray. The Gulf Coast, someone told him, would never be the same. He took stock of his life. It was time, the Santa Cruz, Calif., man decided, to "put feet to my faith." In August, Schapiro, 44, traveled to Bay St. Louis, Miss., where San CityTeam Ministries has set up camp on a Softball field since September. From there, two pastors coordinate wave after wave of volunteers eager to rebuild this coastal hamlet where, a year after one of the nation's most devastating natural disasters, homes and lives are just beginning to be repaired. In the past year, thousands of volunteers have descended on the devastated Gulf Coast, where people curse the Federal Emergency Management Agency and handmade signs declare "State Farm Sucks." Like no other recent natural disaster, Katrina showed America the power of the volunteer. In Bay St. Louis, it is volunteers who Jose-base- See KATRINA, T ''I i UUJS r f i t.i I y d IT James Smith, with CityTeam Ministries, makes a supply list on an old piece of cardboard as he rebuilds a home Top: in Bay St. Louis, Miss. left A CityTeam Ministries volunteer reads from the Bible during morning prayers. Rcyet Ciiry S.n Jose Met i.r, New. B2 Val D. Greenwood, in his book "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy" (Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. 3rd Ed. p 375) wrote that "the great majority of (United States) males who lived to maturity can be found in the land records." Due to that almost universal inclusion of males, and the indexes accompanv ing the deeds, land records are among the most important records genealogists can use. Deeds are thorough and indexed. Deeds record the first transfers of American soil to the latest. And because they were legal documents describing real property they were protected and indexed. In other words, even though the authors of the land grants and deeds did not create or keep the records for genealogists, just the fact that they exist in such numbers and from such early dates makes them indispensable L'nlike most records genealogists use. the earlier the land record, the more information may be included. In the Perkins deeds, we found spouses, siblings, parents and children mentioned with some frequency, enough to create pedigrees. All names in the deeds can be important Of course the grantees and grantors are important These are the buyers and sellers, the names which are indexed In addition, witnesses lo deeds sometimes connect families because brothers, brothers-in-law and la! hers tended to witness each others' deeds NeighWs' names can sometimes indicate w hich land records are ancestral. For example, one of my ancestors is Joshua IVikins. who was born in 172H m Baltimore County, Md and died in 1X14 in Rutherford County, Tenn. An IKK) , deed from Rutherford County lists a Joshua Perkins. Could this one he my ancestor'' Since there w ere several Joshua IVrkms living in the South at the same lime, how could I tell' I looked at the neighlors and there was Joshua's daughter and her husband, right around the corner, increasing the chances that this Joshua w as indeed ancestral Why? Because t families and friends tended to , Religion Notes series to consider spirituality in film Y 422-776- What do "Babe: Pig in the City," "My Neighbor Totoro" and the drama "Tender Mercies," about t a country and western singer, have in common with the New Testament epic "King of KingsT A new film series suggests the films are linked by the power that they have to make you think about issues of faith and nope. All four films, along with eight others, will be shown at Brigham Young k series University as part of a entitled "Spirituality in Film: The Moving Image The first week of screenings will be held Tuesday through Sept. 16, and the second week runs from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23. AD films wiU be shown in the Pardoe Theatre, In BYlTs Harris Fine Avis Center. A member of the BYU Theatre and Media Arts faculty will lead a discussion prior to each screening. Films will be shown at 720 p.m. except on Saturdays, when the first of two scheduled screenings will be a 2 p.m. matinee. The series is free and open to the public. Oscar-winnin- g down-and-ou- two-wee- L A complete screening schedule is available by phone at or online at performances.byu edu. ' Provo church reaches out to young adults What does religious faith have to do with daily living in 2006? A kxral church hopes to encourage reflection on that question by hosting a weekly discussion group for people between the ages of 18 and 40. On Sunday. Provo Community United Church of Christ will launch a morning worship group for young adults, to be held each Sabbath from 10 a m. to 10:45 a.m. The group will be led by the Rev. Kevin Crowell Child care will be provided to those wishing to attend. The church's regular Sunday worship service is held at 11 am. Additional information is available by phone at 375-911- mag announces fiction contest winners AML crafting stories that focus on themes of interest to members of The Church Saints. A of Jesus Christ of Latter-dafiction contesl conducted by Irreantum. the thrice-yearlliterary magazine of the Association for Mormon Letters awarded prizes to wordsmiths from y y North Carolina. Maine. Massachusetts. Pennsylvania and California. The AML has given out its own annual awards for decades, but is only in its sixth year of conducting the Irreantum Fiction Contest, which recognizes excellence in sluwl fiction. The first place cash award of $250 was given to "Light of the New Day," by Dnrin Cozzens of Dobson. N.C., with Salt Luke City resident Paul Rawlins claiming the second-placprize ($175) for "Fish Hut." Two third-plac- e prizes and two honorable mentions were also awarded. The winning entries will be published in the Spring 2007 ivsue of Irreantum. The contest is sponsored by a grant from the Utah Arts Council Additional information about the AML and Irreantum is available online at www e ami-onlin- e org. It's not just in Utah that writers are WWW MtKAlDF.mA.COM ' -C- odyClurh CAU 17VS101 TO tUISCIIIII Mission reunions be published ' will Sept. 23 and 28 prior to IDS General Conference. To submit a reunion notice include name of mission, name of mission president, time, date and address of reunion migrate together Land records may also guide researchers to other records and contact Info such as telephone, andor Web site. Send Information to the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 717, Provo, Utah 84603 or frmail to dhnews heraldextra.com by noon on Tuesday. i , Deeds oft en include si at ement s indicating pieces ol origin, something like this: "John Smith and his w ife Mary of Brown County bought land in (ireen County." The researcher knows to search the records of Brown County, the county o( origin, after completing searches in Green County Charting both an ancestor's purchases of land and his sales of land, is essential lo gleaning the most genealigical data from See KERR, fig |
