<div dir="ltr"><div><div>In this email:</div><div><br></div><div>Farmers But Not Landowner Presentation</div><div>Three Lessons I Remembered and One I Forgot</div><div>Trips</div><div>Platting out a Plat Book Strategy</div><div>40% webinar sale</div><div>Webinar</div><div>Consultation</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div>Farmers But Not Landowners</div><div><div>--------------------------------------</div></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px">Presentations on farming ancestors tend to focus on those who owned real estate. It can be a challenge to research those farmers who rented their ground, worked as sharecroppers, or those who worked in agriculture as farm laborers. </span><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/farmers-tenants-and-laborers/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(3,169,244);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;text-decoration-line:none;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5;max-width:100%">In this presentation we focus on these types of individuals</a><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px">. Farm renters, sharecroppers, and farm laborers tend to leave fewer records\u2013</span><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/farmers-tenants-and-laborers/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(3,169,244);box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;text-decoration-line:none;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5;max-width:100%">we\u2019ll focus on research strategies directed towards them.</a><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px"> They can be challenging to research in a way that landowners are not.</span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px"><br></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px">Details at:</span></div><div><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com" target="_blank">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com</a></div><div><br></div><div>----------------------------------------</div><div>Three Lessons I Remembered and One I Forgot</div><div>----------------------------------------<br><br><span style="color:rgb(37,41,42);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px"></span></div><div><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Somewhere online (the precise location I will not mention) I recently read that all the Bureau of Land Management Tract books were online at <em style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">FamilySearch</em>.  The last time I checked <em style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">FamilySearch </em>Missouri\u2019s books were not online. There were some families in Chariton County who filed pre-emption claims and I wanted to see if there were any neighboring families who filed claims that were eventually cancelled. I was hoping to look in the updated list of online materials</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">The only problem was that it wasn\u2019t true. All the books were not online. They still aren\u2019t. Either the author copied the information from someone else or assumed the list was complete because there were a lot of states listed.</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Four reminders from that:</p><ol style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:auto 1.5em 1em;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;;max-width:100%;color:rgb(23,37,42);font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">Don\u2019t believe everything you read.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">Don\u2019t assume anything\u2013check it out.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">Don\u2019t just copy and paste information\u2013check it out.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">Write things down as soon as you think of them. I\u2019ve forgotten the fourth reminder, so this one will have to do instead.</li></ol></div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div>Library of Virginia Research Trip--March 2026</div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div>Join Michael for four days of research at the Library of Virginia in Richmond this March.</div><div><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025-library-of-virginia-research-trip-richmond-virginia/" target="_blank">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025-library-of-virginia-research-trip-richmond-virginia/</a><br><br></div><div><br></div><div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div>Midwest Genealogy Center Research Trip</div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>Join me for four days of research in Independence, Missouri, and the Midwest Genealogy Center in May 2026. Details on our announcement page at</div><div><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/" target="_blank">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/</a></div></div></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div>Platting Out a Plat Book Strategy</div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-8f1cb1c9-7fff-05d7-06f3-43ff76a72776"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.92;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Beginning in roughly the middle of the 19th century, a variety of publishing firms began publishing what are commonly referred to as \u201cplat books.\u201d These books show the sizes, shapes, and acreages of farm properties along with the name of the owner. Typically drawn from information contained in property tax and real estate records, modern copies of these books are usually a well-worn reference in many farm households across the United States.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Older ones don\u2019t just include maps of farms. They can often include a variety of other reference material. Sometimes that material was added to sell books or to raise money from selling the privilege of having a picture (of a farm, house, or your ancestor\u2019s own visage) published in the books. Sometimes these books contained directory-type information, particularly in those rural areas where directories were not common.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.92;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Sometimes those whose ancestors were not farmers avoid using \u201cplat books,\u201d often referred to as atlases. That can be a mistake. The 1874 Hancock County, Illinois, \u201catlas,\u201d includes:</span></p><ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:17pt"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-right:17pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">lists of subscribers (probably those who purchased the book)</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:17pt"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8;margin-right:17pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">pictures of churches and other buildings </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:17pt"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8;margin-right:17pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">pictures of selected homes and businesses (probably those who paid a little extra fee)</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:17pt"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8;margin-right:17pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt" role="presentation"><span style="font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">biographies of selected residents</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.92;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Some of the subscribers are not farmers or landowners, but are local businessmen. There are pictures of homes and churches pictured from towns around the county.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.8;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The \u201catlas\u201d just isn\u2019t about showing a map of who owns what piece of farmland. Although locating your ancestor\u2019s name on a map of a specific township can be the starting point to land and other records. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.92;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(37,41,42);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">You may not find your town dweller mentioned specifically in one of these books. But you may find a picture of his church, places where he shopped, or the local courthouse.</span></p></span>--------------------------------------</div><div>40% webinar sale</div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>We&#39;ve put our 40% webinar sale back on for today (20 November 2025). Download immediate. View whenever.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/recent-webinars/">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/recent-webinars/</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div>--------------------------------------</div>Common Name Webinar</div><div><div>--------------------------------------</div><br></div><div>Details on this presentation are at:</div><div><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/" target="_blank">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/</a></div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------</div><div>Consultations with Michael</div><div>------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>Need help with your research? Schedule a genealogy consultation today!<br><br><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/" target="_blank">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/</a><font color="#888888"><br></font></div></div><div><br></div><div><div>------------------------------------</div><div>Are You Getting These Emails?</div><div>------------------------------------</div><div>Send me a message at <a href="mailto:mjnrootdig@gmail.com" target="_blank">mjnrootdig@gmail.com</a> to let me know.  Thanks!</div><div><br></div><div>(c) 2025 Michael John Neill</div><div><br></div><div>Until Next Time!<br><br>Michael</div></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>------------------------------------<br>Michael John Neill<br>Genealogy Tip of the Day</div><div><a href="http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com" target="_blank">http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com</a></div></div></div></div>