GRIP Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh

I’m at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, held at La Roche College, where I’m about to start a week long course in Advanced Land Research: Locating, Analyzing, Mapping. It’s being taught by Rick and Pam Sayre, who are two genealogy educators I really admire. I’m so excited to be here!

Things will get off to a great start tomorrow with:

Overview of Land Division in the US
State Land States
Federal Land Division
Land Division in Ohio & Other Unique Areas

I’m especially interested in delving deeper into land records because of my interest in house histories. Much of the land in Erie County was granted to pioneers, such as the Nicholsons, McKees, Reeds, and Grubbs, in the 1790s, when most of the land was controlled by the Pennsylvania Population Company. Deeds at the Erie County Courthouse date back to the 1820s, and  even earlier, original deeds, can be found in collections of family papers held at the Erie County Historical Society’s archives. One particular deed comes to mind, that of John Nicholson’s 1808 purchase of land along West Ridge Road, on which he built one of Erie’s first taverns. It is the original, vs a “true courthouse copy,” which makes it even more exciting 🙂

If you’re interested in following me along through the day, you can find updates at my twitter account: @mboxgenealogy


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *