Hi Lists,
FYI,
Barry
Software program helps researchers map ancestor's land
http://users.rcn.com/deeds/index.shtml
By James M. Beidler
Researching an ancestor's land used to require a lot of patience -- and if you wanted
to map the property, you needed a protractor, a ruler and some math skills that usually
get left behind in high school.
You still need the patience, but with tools such as Direct Line Software's DeedMapper
software program, pre-high tech items such as the protractor have been swept aside.
There is nothing that DeedMapper does that cannot be done manually, but it can save loads
of time in more sophisticated projects, such as:
Untangling people having the same name by analyzing their landholdings and transfers.
Finding the location of a particular plot by anchoring a group of
neighboring plots against a stream.
Creating a complete map of landholders in a region and embellishing the work by drawing
census- or tax-taker routes on top of it.
Write a book of county deed abstracts containing maps of landholders on the various
creeks.
While the core premise of DeedMapper is simple -- there have long been computer-aided
design (known as CAD) programs around -- the software is loaded with a number of
capabilities that make it especially helpful to land researchers.
For one thing, many different measurement units and survey methods are supported.
Depending on the part of the country, odd and archaic
measurements such as "rods" and "chains" were used. Custom units can
also be defined in the program.
DeedMapper is also fairly nimble at allowing users to cut and paste
information to and from other programs -- both in terms of text and graphic files.
Another handy feature is that plots can be rotated -- slightly or a lot,
depending on the need -- to compensate for compass errors. In this way, two deeds from
different time eras can be compared and often are found to be the same piece of land.
DeedMapper has three displays. The "Text View" is where you type in your deed
description using an easy-to-follow system. Once that is done, the parcel is automatically
plotted and shown in another display called the "Plot View."
On the "Plot View," the outline of the land can be shown unadorned, but there
are options to add descriptions of each line segment (its length and angle), corner (this
is usually "a stone" or "marked black oak" or "chestnut") as
well as the names of the adjoining owners.
A great feature of the "Plot View" is that it can also contain DeedMapper maps
of your research area. It's in this window that you "drag" plots with the
computer mouse, fit them together with other plots, and place them on the maps.
These optional computer maps are sold separately from the software -- allowing the
researcher to buy as many or as few areas as he or she is interested in -- but can be
invaluable for placing the land plots accurately on modern era maps.
DeedMapper runs on the most popular Windows systems 95/98, NT, ME, XP, Win 2K. It
requires 8 Mb of RAM and uses about 3 Mb of space on your hard disk, not including your
project data.
The software costs $99 and is available from Direct Line Software, 71
Neshobe Road, Newton, MA 02468. An order form is on Direct Line's Web site at the URL,
http://users.rcn.com/deeds/index.shtml
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Beidler is a freelance writer and lecturer on genealogy. Contact him either
at Box 270, Lebanon, PA 17042 or by e-mail to jmbeidler(a)comcast.net