The Williams County Genealogical Society met Monday, January 9, 2016 in the Harmon Room of the West Annex, Bryan Public Library. Our presenter, Marty Richie is enthusiastic about Land Deeds! She covered a lot history in her presentation. For instance, the Firelands which are located near Cleveland were set aside for Connecticut residences who homes had been burnt down during the American Revolution. In 1802 the upper western corner of Ohio was designated as Indian Lands and unsafe settlement. The Land Ordinance of 1785 set aside Section 16 for the money from the sale to be used for public schools.
Williams County was named for David Williams, who was one of captors of John André, a British Army officer hanged as a spy by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, for assisting Benedict Arnold’s attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_André).
Ohio was the first states to be laid out in a grid pattern. Each township is 6 square miles (6×6). Each township has 36 section or 640 acres. Every section, 160 acres, is divided into quarters: NE, NW, SE, SW and every section is divided into quarters. Copies of deeds can be found at the William County Recorder’s Office. Tract books can be found online at BLM – Bureau of Land Management – https://www.blm.gov/.
Marty is in the process of writing a book about the Land Deeds of Williams County.
On February 13, 6:30 pm the WCGS will meet in the Harmon Room of the West Annex to the Bryan Public Library in Bryan, OH. Members are asked to bring a Valentine which may have belonged to an ancestor or a Valentine’s Day memory to share. Please come and join us.
The purpose of the WCGS is the preservation of county records and family research. Monthly meetings are held the second Monday of each month, excluding July and August, in the Harmon Room of the West Annex of the Bryan Public Library. For further information concerning WCGS, email Pat Goebel wcgspg01@gmail.com, visit the Website at www.wcgs-orgs.com, or write to WCGS, PO Box 293, Bryan, OH 43506.
INFORMATION PROVIDED