William Howard & Upper Canada Land Petitions

Lorine at the "Olive Tree Genealogy Blog" blogged about the new Upper Canada Land Petitions Index that is now available online.


William Howard was indexed!!!

Name: HOWARD, William

Place: Grimsby

Year: 1832

Volume:235

Bundle:H 17

Petition:81

Microfilm:C-2051

Reference:RG 1 L 3

Now what?
It's either a personal visit for onsite research, hire a researcher, inter-library loan or the FHC.

The Family History Center Library Catalog showed the following film and description in this Ontario category (Petitions for land grants and leases, 1791-1867 - Upper Canada. Executive Council) that seemed to match what was indexed for William Howard:

C-2051 Vol. 233A, bundle H-15, petition no. 76 -- Vol. 235, bundle H-17, petition no. 110 1825-1833 FHL US/CAN Film 1630608

So next summer this will be the first film ordered when we're back in Michigan.

Thanks, Lorine!

John Backus Probate Documents

Probate documents for John Backus of Tompkins Co., New York (a transcript can be found here):

[Click on image above to enlarge]

These were the documents that spurred my "happy dance" moment (described here).

My descent from William Backus(1) through Stephen Backus (there is another line through Stephen's sister, Sarah):

William Backus m. ____
Stephen Backus m. Sarah Spencer
Timothy Backus m. Sarah Post
John Backus m. Joanna Cleveland
John Backus m. Jerusha Baker
John Backus m. 4 times
Laura Backus m. Thomas P. Richmond

The documents were found via the Family History Center microfilms (viewed at Jonesville, Michigan). The microfilm information used to order the Tompkins Co., NY Probate was also found here.

The following (on an Ancestry message board) is the last Will and Testament of John Backus from Will Book I Pages 137-139 in the Tompkins Co., NY, Deeds.

Additional probate information (not included on the documents above) can be found here.