Book Description

Presented here are index entries for primary parties involved in items found in land record books, or deed books, of the District of Columbia, beginning in 1792. Covered are books A through AO39. These entries include: grantor, grantee, person(s) being bonded, person qualifying for military or public position, parties to civil suits, owner of property being surveyed, etc. Not included in this index are place names or other names buried within individual records. The source citation for each entry includes book, old page, and new page. Two page numbers are provided because there are two series of land record books. The original, or "old" books, are in handwritten form and found at the National Archives, Record Group 351, Entry 112, on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. About 1900 or so, typewritten copies of the original land record books were made- hence we have "new" books. These typewritten copies are located at the Office of Public Record, or D.C. Archives, on Naylor Court in Washington, D.C. The original, handwritten, books were used to compile this index because they are more reliable-the typewritten copies are widely known to contain many transcription and indexing errors. For example, it was common for the indexers of the typewritten copies to omit lists and/or declarations of slaves.