The search for land owned by a person’s ancestors is the topic of the next meeting of the Wabash Valley Genealogy Society.
“Finding an Ancestor’s Land at the Bureau of Land Management Website and in Plat Maps” will be presented by Ilene Murray during the session, 6 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Vigo County Public Library. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Poles, rods, chains, townships, sections and ranges — land surveys can be very confusing. Once someone has mastered the measurements, however, there’s a vast amount of information waiting for to be discovered. The society will take a look at how to understand and use the rich collection available online at the Bureau of Land Management website as well as how to use and interpret plat maps.
Murray is a retired middle school teacher who has been involved with genealogy for almost 40 years. An active volunteer in the St. Louis Genealogical Society, she has been a featured speaker at local and national conferences and has taught genealogy and computer classes throughout the St.
Louis Area. For the past 23 years, Murray has served as the Publications director of the St. Louis Genealogical Society. She edited and wrote for the society’s newsletter and continues to write and edit for the society’s St. Louis Genealogical Society’s Quarterly journal.
She also administers the society’s Facebook pages, writes the society’s weekly blog and works on their website. She has had articles published in several genealogical journals and is the author of University City, Missouri: Its People and Events, 1906–1931. Murray also serves as the co-leader for the society’s annual research trip to Salt Lake City.
The program is open to the public. It will also be available online via Zoom to WVGS members. To join, send $15 per individual, or $20 per family, to the WVGS at PO Box 7012, Terre Haute, IN  47802-7012. There is an additional $2 charge to each for using PayPal.
Membership applications are available at www.inwvgs.org. Send applications at least one week before the meeting date.