Closson Press

Author: Edward N. Wevodau
(Books W,X,Y,Z including areas now comprising Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, 1779-1786) Volume 3 is the third in a series of early Lancaster County deed abstracts. It includes information that would help a researcher identify a familial connection. Ed worked under the assumption that once a person identified a possible match, they would then order the full text of the deed. Those living in outlying areas often did not bring their deeds to Lancaster to be recorded. Nonetheless, there is hope: After describing the tract to be conveyed, deeds give the prior history of the property. If the land had not been patented, the history normally begins with the warrant; otherwise, the history begins with the patent. From that starting point, the deed briefly denotes all transfers to the property up to the present. Thus, previously unrecorded deeds can be unearthed. For this reason, it is especially important to abstract early deed records, as critical information about a family may be found in a place one would never think to look. Index.