Title Searching

I was checking our digital database (an Excel spreadsheet) against the deeds that we have printed out for Port Tobacco. Although by no means finished with deed collection, we have about 220 separate land conveyances. Of course, we are still trying to place each of those conveyances 'on the ground' and establish chains of title for each of the town lots from 1728 to the present. The newspaper article abstracts that Pete has been compiling and which we will check against the microfilmed originals will clarify some of the relationships.

By my reckoning, we have 426 newspaper abstracts that relate to the town's inhabitants and their businesses, and we still have two of the six volumes of abstracts to rummage through. These entries do not include those about horses brought to town as studs or other events that lack apparent value for our research.

In sum, Pete and I are collecting a substantial archival database; so substantial that we may have to export it to Access as a relational database to effectively use all of the material and draw connections that might otherwise allude notice.

Jim