It is always helpful to know what it is you are using.
Several years ago a researcher indicated they had purchased a book of maps for their county of interest showing landowners created from federal land transactions. They were excited about the book and then I asked them when their family of interest moved to the area. It was fifty years after initial settlement started.
They then told me their families were not in the book. That’s because none of their family obtained federal land. While maps are always helpful to help with geographic perspective, my friend might have gotten more use of out one contemporary to his research, one with more geographic and topographical features, one showing modern landowners and features, etc.
Maps of first landowners can be helpful, but they are most helpful when your family falls into that category of residents. And keep in mind that every land owner is not necessarily a resident.
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