RootsTech 2016 Syllabus Links

This is the second year that I have attended the RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah virtually. Certainly it is not the same as being there in person with the many thousands of other like-minded genealogists. I am thankful nonetheless to have had the opportunity to live-stream several of the sessions today (yes, I took a vacation day to do so). Last year it seems that it was quite easy to find the presenter’s syllabus using the RootsTech app. This year it is a challenge.

The syllabus for each session is available in-app and via the “Roots Tech Class Syllabi” web page for a limited (unspecified) time, located at this link:
https://www.rootstech.org/About/syllabus?lang=eng.

rootstech-app-syllabi-page
The RootsTech 2016 App Class Syllabus screen

The challenge is that you need to know the session number to then find the correct link by drilling down. To learn the session number, you can search and filter on a variety of parameters at this link:

https://rootstech2016.smarteventscloud.com/connect/search.ww

rootstech-2016-search-page
RootsTech 2016 search page. Search by presenter or by keyword

To make this a bit easier for myself, I created a spreadsheet that included the session number, presenters names, session titles and links to the syllabus for about 20 sessions that I was particularly interested in.

If you’d like to download a copy of my Excel spreadsheet with selected sessions and links to the syllabus for each, click here. Hyperlinks are to the far right of the worksheet for each session where there is a syllabus available.

Even if you are #NotAtRootsTech, you can still enjoy some of what the conference has to offer from afar. I will be tuning in again tomorrow afternoon. A big Thank You to the sponsors of this wonderful event!

From Deed to Plat Map, Part 2

Creating a Plat Map from a Metes and Bounds Land Description: A New Jersey Example. Part 2 demonstrates the platting of a parcel using a free online tool

In part one of this two-part post, I created a call list, a stripped down extract of the lines in the 1847 deed that includes the compass points and distance. Armed with this information, I can begin drawing my land plat.

Although I own a copy of Deed Mapper by DirectLine Software, it was installed on my old desktop computer in another room in the home. I vaguely recalled that I had not yet installed the newer version, and didn’t know where the media was to install it on my laptop. So I decided to do an online search for other platting options. That is when I discovered Deed Platter. I am not sure how I overlooked this tool previously – it appears that it was released in 2004.

genealogytools-dot-net-website-deed-platterDeed Platter is a free utility available at the GenealogyTools.net website

Here is a portion of the Hammell to Carson deed with the first two line calls indicated.1847-hammell-to-carson-first-two-calls-indicated

Line call 1 reads: “…South twenty degrees East twenty nine chains and eighty three links…”
Line call 2 reads: “…South fifty four degrees and a half west ten chains and ten links…”

This information is highlighted in my line call worksheet, created in Microsoft Excel.

line-calls-hammell-carson-first-two-highlighted

The highlighted information from my call worksheet is shown in the Deed Platter form. The direction column in my worksheet needs to be broken down into three parts in order to be input into the form: direction, degrees and bearing.

deed-platter-data-entry-form-first-2-line-calls

Deed Platter shows the distance in poles by default. By using the drop down arrow, you can choose from a variety of distance measures, including rods, perches, arpents and Spanish varas. Fill in the bottom portion of the form to have that information included in your map (i.e. grantor, grantee, township, county, state and deed citation information).

This is what the first two calls look like platted using the Deed Platter software.

deed-platter-plat-map-of-first-two-line-calls

This plat map is far from complete but I wanted to demonstrate the process and not just the end result. Continuing working through the line calls, I end up with a Deed Platter table that looks like this:

genealogy-tools-deed-platter-9-calls-in-table

When I finished recording all the line calls from my worksheet into the Deed Platter table, I clicked the Plat Deed button to get a final plat map of the 1847 land purchased by Daniel Carson in East Windsor Twp., Mercer Co., New Jersey.

hammell-to-carson-1847-deed-plat-map

There is an additional table of information that can only be seen once the deed is platted that allows you to include markers and neighbors. I was unable to find a way to get that information to then be displayed on my map, though.

deed-platter-markers-neighbors-table

Markers and neighbors input into the table below the map are not displayed on the map itself. Click on image to enlarge.

Deed Platter is a great, free utility to plat a single parcel of land, but it is not without its shortcomings. Output capabilities appear to be limited to Save or Print, but may depend on which browser is used. With the Google Chrome browser, I was finally able to Print to a PDF file.

The real value in land platting is to place that land parcel somewhere on the globe, and to plat the entire neighborhood (some of whom may be kin), neither of which can be done with this software. I did not see any option to export my plat map for use in another mapping program.

Seeing the land platted definitely helps visualize a complex land description that otherwise just seems like an abstract concept. The Deed Platter software will certainly help you do that.

In summary, successful land platting is comprised of four steps, demonstrated in my two-part post.

1. Acquire a copy of the complete deed whenever possible
2. Transcribe the deed, making a full and complete copy
3. Extract the land description into a separate document that can be marked up
4. Plat the deed using platting software or by hand using paper, pencil and a protractor

If you think you’d rather tackle mapping manually, I can recommend several offline resources: Land & Property Research in the United States by E. Wade Hone (chapter 7) or How to Plot Land Surveys by Neal Otto Hively.

Digital Organization and File Naming Conventions

Last week I returned from a genealogical research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The result of my three days of research was more than one hundred digital images of microfilmed documents, mostly consisting of 19th century New Jersey deeds for Middlesex County and daughter county Mercer, created in 1838. I was in information gathering mode and did not have time to read through more than a few of the documents while on-site. I needed a quick way to catalog my finds so I could see at a glance what I had already scanned and what was still outstanding from my to-do list.

For this project, I chose to first create an Excel spreadsheet where I entered in selected entries from the deed index available on microfilm at the library. Since I am exploring connections between the Tindall and Carson families post-Revolution in the aforementioned counties, I chose to focus on deeds where people with these surnames were grantors and grantees on the same document, or documents that indicated “heirs of” or “estate” or similar verbiage.

1-tindall-deed-index

Portion of my Excel spreadsheet showing deed research underway on the Tindall family of New Jersey.  [Click to enlarge this or any other photo.]

I then pulled the relevant microfilm, scanned the film, and saved an image file to my FHL 2014 folder on my thumb drive. Every evening when back at the hotel, I copied the contents of the folder to my laptop and to Dropbox for safekeeping.

I chose to save copies of the microfilmed documents as JPG files at 300 dpi or better (depending upon legibility of the microfilm). All saved files were named in a similar fashion, with one example shown below:

2-filename

 

 

Elements of the file name, from left to right
Repository: FHL
Microfilm file number: ####### (7-digits)
Volume number
Page number
Surname
Type of document (i.e. deed, death record, etc.)
Miscellaneous: this field may or may not be used; if I imaged only a portion of the full page, I might include “top” or “bottom” or “light” or “dark” depending on how I may have cropped or edited the file.

Note that I use no spaces in the file name, and separate the various elements with a hyphen. This will improve readability and sorting, and if I choose to upload the file to my website, I will not get those %20% space fillers in online URL links.

3-file-folder-structure-names

Files in my Data > Genealogy > FHL 2014 folder

Not only does this file naming convention help me stay organized, it also helps me to maintain the necessary information for later crafting of a source citation. How many times have you gotten a copy of an item, only to later be unable to recall the source of that file or photocopy? By including the repository and the film number in the file name I have that information close at hand, and can later pull title information from the institution’s online catalog. Although not shown above, I typically include an image of the spine of the filmed book to aid me in creating accurate source citations as well.

Assembling the various images that make up one document into a single PDF file and abstracting and transcribing that information will keep me occupied over the next few months. I plan to also plat out the various metes and bounds parcels using DeedMapper (or similar software) at a future date.