Blog

Using Land Records in Genealogy – A CGS Workshop with Pam Miller

Saturday, August 8, 2009
10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

Join CGS member Pam Miller for this practical overview of land and property records and learn why they are absolutely necessary to your family history research. Discover how these often overlooked records can help you solve lineage problems, accurately identify ancestors, correct faulty information and enrich the story of those more distant ancestors.

Lecture topics will include terminology, abstracting, property law, the Public Land Survey System (PLSS, the aliquot system), the metes and bounds system, and the critical information found in deed books.

In addition, the workshop day will include a lunch break and “hands-on” sessions where participants can practice platting and locating specific lands. Bring your own land records to work on after learning how!

Attendees are encouraged to bring laptop computers; the six CGS computers may not all be available for the program. For the practical component Pam will supply graph paper and protractors. Suggested supplies are pencils, erasers and a ruler.

Bring a brown bag for lunch or, if you prefer, there is a nearby deli where you can buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

The workshop is FREE for CGS members but is limited to fifteen people. There is a sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) Download the registration flier. Questions? E-mail or call CGS at 510-663-1358.

Pam Miller, a native of Dallas, Texas, attended Stanford University where she earned a B.A. in Linguistics and an M.A. in Spanish. She was employed as an educator in the Bay Area for twenty-eight years, teaching Spanish and computer science. Pam grew up “walking the family lands” with her parents, inheriting her family’s love of maps and developing a severe case of what she calls “Tara Syndrome.” She has been a member of CGS since 2005.

Graphic courtesy of Pamela A. Miller.