Campbell_Records_Catalog_Tutorial.jpg

Campbell Records Catalog Tutorial

Privacy Level: Open (White)

Surname/tag: CAMPBELL
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Contents

Introduction

The Campbell WikiTree Project is working to document the land, probate, and marriage records for Campbells in early America. These records are being organized by county and state, and then further work is done to attach the WikiTree profile for the actual person noted in the record wherever possible. If Y-DNA is available for descendants of these Campbell ancestors, that is also tied in to further solidify the family lines.

Why are we organizing these Campbell records?

These county and state records are an invaluable source of information to help with seeing how people are related. Deeds and wills can often detail an entire immediate family of husband, wife, and children. When organizing all the Campbell records for a county, we can get a clearer picture of the different family lines that lived there.

Example Deed: Bedford County, Virginia Deed Book 11 Page 454 (26 Oct 1801) - We see 2 brothers Moses and James Campbell selling their part in the inheritance of their deceased father Moses Campbell to their brothers Aaron and Henry Campbell. This is land that was occupied at the time by their mother Jeane Campbell, noted as widow of Moses Campbell.

By organizing the Campbell records from early America, we’re starting to see how we’re all related and which pioneer ancestor each of us are descended from in colonial America.

The Challenge

FamilySearch.org has catalogs of records organized by county and state, but you must browse the deed book or will book to find what you’re looking for. The good news is many of the deed and will books have an index available. The index can quickly be glanced over to find Campbell records, and the book # and page will be provided. We are adding the index for all Campbell records into WikiTree by county and state, and also providing a link to the actual scanned image for easy viewing. What we need are people to take ownership for the counties where their Campbell ancestors lived, and add the records into WikiTree. If we can get individuals to take ownership of 1 or 2 counties, we can cover much more ground than having the same couple people working all the counties.

The Reward

Organizing records at the level described here can provide insight into family history that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Surprisingly, a lot of researchers are not using this amazing tool and usually because they aren’t aware of it. The gateway into genealogy a lot of the time is Ancestry.com or a similar website. That’s a good place to get started in finding initial family relationships, but once you get earlier than 1850 the censuses aren’t as helpful. Marriage records and wills may show up, but a lot of times they can be missed since all the records aren’t fully cataloged. And deeds usually need to be manually viewed in the manner described here to find what you’re looking for.

How to get involved

If you’re aware of your Campbell ancestors living in a particular county, please consider taking ownership of that county and getting the records into WikiTree. We can help with the entire process. Contact one of the Campbell WikiTree Project mentors by sending a private message if any assistance is needed:

Kevin Guy Campbell
Brandon Campbell
Adam Campbell

Here is how to gather the records on FamilySearch.org (you’ll need to sign up for a free account to see the records):

Once signed in at FamilySearch.org, click <search> and <catalog>.

Enter the county name and then click the specific state/county you’re looking for.

You’ll now see the county/state you’ve selected, click <search>.

Here are the various catalogs of records that are available. Click the Land and property records as an example.

Click grantor and grantee indexes and deeds.

The indexes here are sorted by both grantor and grantee. Click the <camera> icon to see the indexes. You can also see the records in the deed books that the indexes point to. Sometimes the camera will have a <lock> symbol which means the collection isn’t available online.

The index images will look like this after clicking the <camera> icon. They’re in alphabetical order, so find where the Cs start to find the indexed Campbell records.

Notice the index for the deed from Campbell, James to Robards, Archibald in 1836, Book 20 Page 103.

Here is Book 20 Page 103 from the deed book we determined from the index. James Campbell and wife Kitty sell 5 acres on the waters of Dix River.

Here’s how the Campbell records can be entered into a spreadsheet for easy porting into WikiTree later.

Here is the heading for wills.

Here is the heading for marriage records.





Collaboration
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  • Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: Kevin Guy Campbell, Adam Campbell, and Brandon Campbell. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
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