1 comments about Earliest Tennessee Land Records & Earliest Tennessee Land History.

1. Once in a generation, someone compiles a genealogy reference work that instantly becomes a standard in its field because it aggregates a vital collection of records in one place, explains how those records originally came to be, and, in the process, promises to save its users hours of toil. Earliest Tennessee Land Records and Earliest Tennessee Land History, by Irene Griffey, is such a book.
   
   The State of Tennessee was established, essentially, from land ceded to the federal government by North Carolina. Clouding the various land cession laws that transferred the title of land from North Carolina to the United States south of the River Ohio (a territory) and then to Tennessee was the requirement, however vaguely defined, that North Carolina Revolutionary soldiers' promise of land for military service be honored. Among other things, this requirement resulted in the inclusion of hundreds of footnotes to the Tennessee land laws that spelled out the land transfer process. In the first portion of this book, Mrs. Griffey has done an extraordinary job of sifting through and organizing the legal history of the early Tennessee land laws so that genealogists may be able to grasp their substance. Among other things, researchers can now understand when and why the various county land offices were established, the six-step process for obtaining a land grant, the differences between military and other types of land grants, and, of course, how to use early Tennessee land records.
   
   The bulk of this remarkable volume, however, consists of abstracts of some 16,000 of the earliest Tennessee land records in existence, arranged in a tabular format. For each record we are given the name of the claimant, the file number, the name of the assignee (if any), the county, number of acres, grant number, date, entry number, entry date, land book and page number, and a description of the stream nearest to the grant. A separate listing of assignees, with the corresponding claimant and file numbers follows in a separate table. The volume concludes with a lengthy appendix consisting of maps and a detailed chronology of Tennessee's land statutes. All of which makes Mrs. Griffey's new book the most important contribution to Tennessee genealogy in recent memory.

No comments about Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Tennessee.

1 comments about The Wataugans.

1. Not the most scholarly book ever, but since so little is in print about Watauga, this is surely the best of the lot.

No comments about The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee (History of Hamilton County & Chattanooga, Tennessee).

1 comments about Wilson County, Tennessee, Deeds, Marriages and Wills, 1800-1902.

1. This book is great and is a great addition to my private library. There were no problems with this purchase. Everything arrived on time and in good shape.

No comments about Wilson County, Tennessee: Genealogical Resource Material 1827-1869.

No comments about The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee (History of Hamilton County & Chattanooga, Tennessee).

No comments about Wilson County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Records, 1858-1875.

1 comments about Wilson County, Tennessee, Circuit Court Records, 1810-1855.

1. I have bought several books through Amazon,com and they have all been in great shape. This book was is a great addition to my private library.

5 comments about The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family's Journey to Freedom.

1. John Baker Jr. spent over three decades researching his family's history in America. Baker's book is a comprehensive study about many who lived on Wessyngton Plantation, the descendents of the slaves and the slave owners. He even collected and used DNA data during his study. Researching your family and tracing your ancestry can be a difficult and time-consuming task. Fortunately, the inhabitants of Wessyngton Plantation and their descendants are lively crafted characters in this book, not just names and statistics, a testimony to Baker's talent as a storyteller. Visit a book store or a library and browse in the biography and non-fiction sections for books by and about Black people. Most folks write books after they are famous or infamous. On the other hand, Black people who live in these United States, write because we want to leave evidence: that we existed; that we are important because we existed; that we survived the Middle Passage. We proudly want the world to know that we were not destroyed. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation provides a model to assist and encourage any of us who would like to begin to write our own family's tales before they are forgotten.



2. When John Baker was in junior high school, he found himself particularly drawn to a textbook photograph of two elderly slaves. Then he learned, when the photograph was reproduced in a newspaper somewhere and pointed out by other relatives, that this couple were his ancestors. This launched him on to an interesting and exciting search to find out more about his family.
   
   Baker has done an amazing job of research, and he started at an inspiringly young age. I appreciate the work of love he has performed, the story he is telling, the family he represents, and his gift with words. He was able to interview family members who were at or near a century old, and to uncover incredible details. He collected data from interviews, pictures, and letters from family members, from researching the meticulously kept plantation records, speaking with the descendants of the Wessington family themselves, looking at old newspaper records, journals, accounts of the time, and more. He was even able to utilize DNA research, so the wealth of information here is rich and varied.
   
   It was interesting to read of a slave-owning family who, atypically, only ever sold two slaves, assigned work by task, allowed mothers to stay with their children, did not put children and women to work in the fields, and who tried, by their lights, to be honorable.
   It was baffling to read that at the same time, they refused to allow their slaves to attend worship services.
   
   It was inspiring, and not at all surprising, to read how, even under these, for the times, 'benevolent' conditions, those enslaved still yearned for freedom, valued it, and maintained their own internal moral compass. It was was heartwarming to read of generations of families who, in spite of slavery, remained as intact as possible, husbands and fathers supporting their wives and children, working together to raise their children- not until decades after slavery ended did this begin to change.
   
   It was helpful to read of other plantations, other conditions, and other families in the South at the same time, and compare and contrast the difference. The Wessingtons, and those they owned, were fortunate in that in one generation there was only a single surviving heir, so the families were not separated by the death of the head of household resulting in slaves being divided amongst multiple progeny, and the Wessington's were careful enough with their money that they never had to sell slaves off to recoup debts.
   
   It was informative to read the Wessington family's complain during the Civil War of having their rights to transport their 'property' into the territories being the chief reason for secession (that 'property' was the humans they held in bondage).
   
   There is, however, a little too much detail at times, lists of occupations, family names (difficult to follow or make sense of), crops, exports, imports, and so forth. At times, it reads like a novel, sometimes a scholarly work, and at other times it reads like a business inventory or an account book.
   
   This book is perfect as it is for the following groups:
   Those with any interest in genealogical research
   Members of the Washington family
   Those living in the area of Wessington Plantation
   Those interested in every detail of the story
   
   For most others, it's still an interesting story, but it could have benefited from some tighter editing, putting the lists in tables and charts in the back of the book, for instance, and putting lists of names in a family tree, or leaving out a few details, tightening up others.



3. Having enjoyed Baker's wonderful story, I am so pleased that it is available as a trade paperback. Now reading groups and students of all ages can delve into this compelling history.



4. Incredibly researched and beautifully written. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject and period.



5. This book should be in the classroom ,as part of the history of the state of Tennessee. Mr Bakers relentless digging into the past was a great effort ,into getting this story told.Great work.