Approximating Location of Historical Land

Ever wonder how to locate historical county land.  It’s not precise but for research purposes, it’s a start.  For the purposes of this example, I’m researching land once owned by Mark Mitchell High, 1805 – 1870.

Step 1: Go to Bureau of Land Management >search Patents. Enter the following information

• State = Mississippi
• County = Oktibbeha
• Last Name = High
• First Name = add if the last name is common one in the county (Note: I did NOT add Mark)

Below, is High’s earliest 1856 patent data.

Step 2: Go to Earthpoint >choose “Search By Description” (along the left hand side, under USA Utilities) >enter the following information.

• State = Mississippi
• Meridian = Choctaw
• Township = 018N
• Range = 012E
• Section = 2
• Aliquot is not an option (e.g., SW^¼ NW^¼)

Step 3: Click “View” and note the 640 acres and the results: Centroid 33.4531237, -89.0102520

Step 4: Go back to High’s patent results, at BLM, and click on Accession information (e.g., MS1540__399).  

Notes the number of acres he purchased under “Survey Information”: 39.33 (of the 640 total acres).  

Step 5: Sign into your Google Drive account (drive.google.com)>click My Drive>click More (at the bottom)>click Google My Maps.

In the Search box below , enter the Centroid results: 33.4531237, -89.0102520

And, below, voilá!  Or, as Thomas MacEntee says, “viola”! 😉

Step 6: Click the map marker and click + (plus) to add marker to map.

Step 7: Name your map

Step 8: In sum, below are the five map markers for M. M. High. Pretty cool, huh?

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