Heir-ship Documents
The heir-ship document lists people’s names (family members) who owned lands in the area, but sometimes they are one-sided. Watch for the word (ex parte) attached to the affidavit. That means their side of the family. You are probably thinking, aunts, uncles, and such. However, it means the father had more than one wife, so there are different sides to the children. This is a very interesting little fact to learn.
I have run across a notice of someone’s marriage in the deeds. Like I have mentioned before, deeds can be a treasure chest full of information. Back in the 1800s, everything was entered into the deeds records. I have found oil contracts and even an affidavit for someone’s piece of property, which one of my great grandfathers was giving testimony that a fence had been around the property for years. Just reading his words brought him back to life for a moment or two! Times like that beats looking at a census and just reading names.
All right, go ahead and go though the indexes and see if you can locate any name from your research. Write the book and page number down on your note pad. Try to go through as many indexes as you think you might find your relatives in. Remember to replace each book as you finish with it. Others will be using the books also!
Most deed rooms will have all the deed books on microfiche. If you’re at one that does, then all of the heavy books are behind you. Using the microfiche machines is pretty easy, just ask one of the clerks where the microfiche is located, how to use them and you're off and running! This speeds up looking at all of those documents in the books. However, sometimes the old documents (all hand written) are just too hard to read in one of these machines. If you are having problems reading them, just head back to the old trusty books.
Now, if you have to, or just want to, use the books in the deed section. Walk around until you find the volume number on the book and pull it out. Open the book to the page the index is listed on and read the document. I do want to mention that sometimes indexes only list one page, but in fact, the document can be several pages long. When you find a will in the deeds, they usually consist of more pages than the index states. If you find something you just have to get a copy of, make note of the book and page number and get a copy made. Remember what I told you earlier about copying!
One thing you will really enjoy is finding signatures of your relatives. I remember the first time I found my great-grandmother's signature, and then her mother's and father’s signatures. Those were great moments!
By now you should have an idea of what to do. Now work your way around the room and look in all the indexes. Probates can be very interesting. Look in the index for names. They are also in books like the deed indexes but with an added bonus. In the first column in the probate index book is a number. This number is for the probate packet... That's right, a packet! There will be some cabinets for the packets somewhere in the room. On the outside of each drawer will be numbers. Find the number that matches your packet, get it out and take a look at its contents.
Everything that is in the probate book is in this packet. In addition, sometimes there are receipts, bills of sale, and so on. Now if you do not find the packet, it just means someone along the way has walked out with it. Nevertheless, don't fret because the probate books have most of the documentation in them, minus the receipts.
Now if you've made it though the deeds, probate and court documents, you should have a pretty good picture of any land your family might have owned during the early years. Did you go through the oil and gas contracts? Did you find any contracts? If you do find any contracts, make certified copies and try to follow the contract out to see if you are in line for royalties.
Ok, question; have any oil companies ever approached anyone in your family line saying you might be in line to inherit royalties or anything such as this? But then you never heard from them again? Is there a family story of your relatives selling their mineral royalties in the past? Did they sell all the mineral rights? These records might help in answering these questions.
Just remember what I told you about the landsmen in the clerks office? They are there every day in almost all of the courthouses in Texas. They are constantly looking for owners or heirs to the minerals. Even if the land was sold, you still might have mineral rights. It could be YOU that the landsmen are looking for!
Special Note: Check the Old Documents page, we have put some samples online for you to practice with before you go to the courthouse.