Books published by Heritage Books

This book is Part II of the Blount County, Tennessee, Chancery Court records in Minute Book 1. The records contained in this continuation volume cover chancery court records for Blount County (1866-1869), and Monroe County, Tennessee. The chancery court in Monroe County held jurisdiction over chancery court claims arising in Blount County for the years 1832-1852. In addition, this book contains Blount County divorce proceedings (1860-1937). "This book begins in December 1866, and ends in December 1869. These were years of increased activity for the Court considering few cases were settled through the Civil War years 1861-1865 when Tennessee was a Confederate state. A huge backlog of claims from as early as 1858 were reactivated for settlement following the war. These, with grievances unaddressed during the war constituted a formidable challenge for the Court to consider." Lawsuits filed and listed in these records are primarily of a personal nature. The entries describe what transpired in court, how the case was handled by the chancellor, the duties of the clerk and master of the court, and the responsibilities of the parties involved in carrying out the decision of the court. In some cases, along with the names of the individuals and businesses filing suit, the following names are included: spouses, children, slaves, solicitors, sureties, attorneys, agents, and administrators and executors of estates. Divorce proceedings were held in the Blount County chancery court from 1860 to 1937. All of the records and most of the files were saved from the courthouse fire of July 28, 1906. The divorce material copied to this book was copied in the following sequence: name of husband and whether he was in Blount County, or a nonresident, case number assigned to the suit, date it was filed with the clerk, site or location of marriage, date of marriage, name of wife (maiden name if given), and date of final decree. Minor children were listed (when given) with ages. A full-name index completes this work.

Organized by campaign, regiment, and company, these rosters give the names of soldiers and officers and their rank, dates of enlistment and discharge, and occasional additional data such as date of death. "The majority of the rolls printed in this volume...are from [the] Adams Papers in the State Library. In addition there are rolls from the series lettered "War", 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, among the bound volumes of archives in the State Library, a number from the archives of the Connecticut Historical Society, a few from private sources, and several from the New York Historical Society's Collections for 1891. Items have also been gleaned from a volume of army accounts 1755-1758 in the Comptroller's Office, from the printed series of the Records of the Colony of Connecticut, and from the file of the Connecticut Gazette in the Yale University Library." This was first published as the Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Volume IX. A full name index adds to the value of this work.

Every name mentioned in the will is abstracted, land tract names, residence and occupation of the deceased when given.

Of special note are the names of the next of kin contained in this series. In lieu of wills or other evidence, these are sometimes the only clues to earlier generations. Names include the deceased, appraisers, creditors, next of kin, and executors or administrators, date of inventory, date approved, value of inventory, and original book and page number.

Of special note are the names of the next of kin. In lieu of wills or other evidence these are sometimes the only clues to earlier generations. Names include the deceased, appraisers, creditors, next of kin, and executors or administrators. Also date and value of inventory, date approved, and reference to original.

"Whitewater township was named in 1803 as a territorial division of Hamilton County, Ohio to include all that part of the county west of the Great Miami river. In 1804 this area was subdivided again to form Crosby township. Today Whitewater township is bounded on the west by Dearborn County, Indiana, on the north by Harrison and Crosby townships and on the east and south by the Great Miami river. Crosby township is bounded on the south by the Great Miami river and Whitewater township, on the west by Harrison township, on the north by Butler County, and on the east by the Great Miami river, separating it from Colerain township. "A brief history and status report for the cemeteries in the above named townships is given in the introduction together with the existing records. A list of standard abbreviations and their meaning, as used to record information about burials, is also included." Row and/or section and lot are given when available.

"To write of one county among the many counties of this great country may seem a little thing. To give special attention to one class of men in a single county may seem a matter of still less importance. When that county is the county of Litchfield, in Connecticut, and the class of men selected comprises those who for more than a hundred and fifty years have been the pastors of its churches, the question has a new significance." In addition to the abundance of valuable data preserved on these pages, this well-written book is a pleasure to read. It opens with the foundations, followed by the pioneers, manners and customs, and an eighteenth century sermon. Biographies and personal sketches precede the section devoted to Episcopal churches. Baptists, Methodists, the clergy as citizens, the clergy in literature, wit and humor, and ministers' children are also discussed. A lengthy appendix contains lists of congregational ministers arranged by town. Numerous vintage photographs of churches and people enhance the text.

Annual Town Reports provide a rich source of genealogical data, which the author has gleaned and compiled to create this valuable genealogical series. Vital Records are the key to placing our ancestors in a certain place at a certain time. These birth, marriage, and death records are arranged alphabetically by surname. Birth records give the child's name, birth date, parents' names, and place of residence. Other information is included when available, such as: father's occupation, mother's maiden name, place of residence, etc. Marriage entries are arranged alphabetically by the groom's surname and provide the following information: names of bride and groom, date of marriage, and sometimes the place of marriage, birth dates and birth places of bride and groom, occupations, and names of parents. The brides' maiden names are emphasized with bold type. Death entries give the date and place of death. Additional information may include: cause of death, birth date and place, marital status, occupation, and parents' names.

The similar pronunciation of the T and the D at the beginning of German surnames creates an interchangeable sound, making it imperative for family history researchers to check the records of surnames beginning with each of those letters. While searching for Trexler family records, the author was able to identify 173 families with identical of similar surnames. The greatest variation in the subject surname spellings was found in 18th century records, which are the focus of this work. By the early 19th century, families and individuals had developed a pattern of consistent use of their chosen surname spelling. The purpose of this work is to help individuals researching these and similar surnames to identify target individuals easily, regardless of the surname changes that resulted as the family evolved. Therefore, this work does not include extensive family histories, but it does give actual source records from which 173 individual family units have been documented. A researcher interested in a particular individual or family unit will be able to quickly eliminate a great deal of background research, and he or she can concentrate on the particular geographic area in which the individual is found and the variations in surname spellings under which they are found. Supplemental sections in this book include cemetery, census, church, chancery, city directory, probate, wills, distributions, immigration, deeds, land, tax records, marriage records, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, militia records, newspaper references and miscellaneous records which did not fit into one of the previously defined groups. They include both published and non-published sources with all variations of the subject surnames. They are grouped under each heading by geographic locality, followed by the name of the record, and then by the name of the individual in the record. There is a full name index as well as a general index.

Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto blazed the trails of the Arkansas area in 1541, followed by French explorers Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette. In 1682, French explorer La Salle claimed this wilderness in the name of France, naming it Louisiana. There were many Native American tribes living in this region: The Osage, Caddo, Akansa and the Quapaw. France then ceded this region to Spain in 1762. Spain permitted Americans to settle in the Arkansas area in 1783. In 1801 Spain returned the Louisiana area to France. The U.S. acquired this territory with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, requiring residents to file claims with the government in order to prove legal ownership of the land. Between 1820 and 1906, more than 13,000 entries were filed for the eastern Arkansas counties of Monroe, Lee, Woodruff, White, Crittenden, Independence, Lonoke, St. Francois, Prairie and Cross. Land was sometimes available for only $1.25 per acre, or a parcel could be bid upon. This index of land transactions filed with the General Land Office (GLO) is an excellent resource for the genealogist, containing abstracts of land transactions over an eighty-seven-year span beginning in 1820 after statehood. Records are arranged alphabetically by purchaser's last name, and include: first name, middle initial, a legal description and location of the land, the amount of land in acres, the date of purchase, and the county. Contact information is provided in the preface for obtaining access to the original records. This volume covers the following counties: Benton and Carroll.