Looking for Virginia land records and wills/probate records
I'm wondering if there are other sources than what I'm finding on FamilySearch for land, wills, probates?
Samuel McDonald/McDonnel was born 21 July 1797 in Pennsylvania. He died 15 April 1872 in Marion, Pike, Ohio.
The first record I have found him in was an 1818 personal property tax list for Brooke County, Virginia (now West Virginia)
I am fairly sure his mother is Mary McDonald/McDonnell who is listed in the 1820 US Census for Brooke County, VA, but still cannot prove it. She is a widow by 1820 and stayed in Brooke County until her death (it is assumed, since I have yet to find her anywhere else.) I find her in other census records near Samuel as well as in property tax records that Samuel is also listed in.
I have been searching land and probate records to see if I by chance can find the original owner of the property where she lives from 1820 to 1840. Searching Virginia land records has found a "McDonald, John's Heirs" owning 400 acres just over the border of Brooke County, VA in Pennsylvania. BUT, the record is in the Brooke County Land Tax records. Since my Samuel was born in Pennsylvania, my interest is piqued. I traced that 400 acres from 1830 back to the first record in 1798. Going back to 1820, it is listed as "McDonald, John's heirs" but in 1819, it is simply "McDonald, John." (the property location is listed as Harmon's Creek, formerly King's Creek, in Pennsylvania. Harmon Creek Rd. is in Smith Township, PA and Harmon Creek runs from Washington County, PA and flows into Brook County, WV. Harmon Creek Rd. is only 13 miles from the border of PA and Brooke County, WV)
The BLM site has nothing for the McDonald name in WV/VA. I'm going to try different variations to see if anything comes up, but I'd really like to find the exact parcel they are talking about and see if I can make a connection to who John is. There is no one in Brooke County, VA in the 1810 Census that matches him.
This is the wall I have hit. The ultimate goal is to find Samuel's parents. Nearly everything points to Mary as his mother and John is a huge possibility for Mary's husband.
But I cannot find the connection!
I have searched: Land Tax Records, 1798-1851; West Virginia Will Books Collection Record, 1756-1971; Brooke County West Virginia marriages, deaths, wills, and inventories, 1795-1899; Deeds and Deed Index, 1797-1901, Brooke County (this one has promise, but does not give details of the exact property nor any connections to other individuals); West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999; 1783 tax lists and 1790 federal census for Washington County, PA; Deed books and indexes for Washington County, PA;
I would love any other will/probate or land records to check. If anyone can point me to anything else I'd appreciate it! Thanks!
Comments
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There is a public tree in Ancestry with quite a bit of information on him. Do you have an account? If so, search for him in public trees and contact the owners. There are quite a few sources there, but I am not there is more than what you already have. Still, you would be contacting people who have spent time researching him, just as you have.
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@Gail S Watson thank you for looking. Yes, that public tree is by the person I am working with on Samuel. Since I posted, she said she found someone who had done DNA and confirmed he is not part of Mary's line, which leaves us at a huge blank once again. I did contact the Library of Virginia and they have some things on microfilm that are not digitized. I contacted some people there to see if any youth wanted to learn to use a microfilm machine! A group is supposedly searching those records. If it's too much, I might have to request an inter-library loan of those rolls, if they allow it.
Samuel is found in records, but only as a single adult, until he gets married. He fit in Mary's census for the age he was as a teen, but darn it, that's not him!
It's always fun searching for those elusive people in older times!!
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@ifyerhappyanduknowit Yes it is, but I have also become interested in learning the history of records themselves in a couple of state, Virginia and Kentucky and Indiana, specifically. Such deep webs of information there.
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