If you can find the community on a map, send a letter to the Register of Deeds at the
courthouse in the county seat. That office will have all deeds on record from the time the
county was established. Ask for copies (annotated with Vol. & page nos.) of all land
transactions in which your grandfather was grantor or grantee. They will probably advise
you as to copy costs, and after they receive a check from you, will send copies to you. Be
sure to thank them -- it greases the skids for the next time you or another genealogist
requests copies of documentation.
The same courthouse will probably have your grandfather's estate probate papers, if he
died in that county. Those can tell you a great deal about whom were his heirs, and their
locations, as well as the disposition of his assets. Might help you locate long-lost
cousins. Good luck!
Julie Chapin Hesson, author, "Mason County, WV, Marriages, 1806-1915"