Deeds and Land Records
I get many questions about how to locate land where someone's
ancestor lived. Many times someone will know the land lot number but needs
to know where in that militia district they lived.
Cherokee County has a very "unique" way for
compiling information on Land Lots which are transferred from owner to owner.
They maintain a Numeric Index in addition to the Alpha list of Grantee and
Grantor Indices. They maintain the information ongoing on the Numeric
Index, even for portions of lots. This is a more time consuming way of
keeping track, but it surely is the easiest system when you are the one
researching it.
Background Information:
When the ten Georgia counties were formed from the
original Cherokee County (which existed from December 1831 until December 1832),
it was divided into 4 Sections, running north and south, with the First Section
being the easternmost and the Fourth Section bordering on Alabama. Land
Districts are used in most of Georgia to designate legal boundaries of land. The
Land District is then divided into Land Lots. Each of the 4 Sections mentioned
above was divided into Land Districts. These Districts were then divided into
Land Lots.
All of present day Cherokee County lies within the 2nd Section and contains
all of three Land Districts and parts of six others. So if your ancestor owned
part of Land Lot 386, 15th District, 2nd Section, you can find exactly where he
lived by using the 1895 Cherokee County map which shows all the Militia
Districts, Land Districts and Land Lots.
We thank Mr. Williams for contributing this information to this site.
Click on the Thumbnail to the left for a map that shows Militia and Land
Districts. This map by Wyndell Taylor
The 1831 Map will also help you with researching the land districts.
You will find it at the CVIOG Georgia site, or the Hargrett Rare Map Site.
Credits: Mr. Williams - Land District & Courthouse Information
Map -
Militia and Land Districts - Wyndell Taylor
Map
1831 - CVIOG -
(C) 2004 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.