CARTER COUNTY REAL PROPERTY DEEDS and LEASES
Ten reasons why deeds are valuable research tools. - Submitted by: John W. Grace
Be sure to read "Deeds 101" - Submitted by: Sherry Lowe
The chain of property ownership is most commonly traced backward through each preceding deed grantor,
beginning with the latest grantor on the recorded deed for the property in question (see "Deeds 101" above). .
In theory, one may also trace property ownership by beginning with an early deed and following each successive grantee.
In practice, tracing early deed chains of title is made difficult by the brief (or non-existent) property descriptions in the index,
and by the omission of wives' names in the indexes. Un-named "Grantee wives" not infrequently later appear as named grantors, if they
are the surviving spouse. The frequent use of initials, rather than full names, further complicates matters.
There was also much consolidation and division of properties without benefit of the recording of the changes in boundries,
except incident to subsequent sales.
About 60 years ago it became common practice to reference the Book and Page of the predecessor deed when new deeds were created.
This has greatly facilitated the tracing of the chain of title for Carter County properties.
It must be noted that some very early deed transfers are for properties which were originally recorded in a county which preceded the creation of
Carter County (Mason, Greenup or Lawrence Counties). In those cases, the chain of title begins in the records of the predecessor county.
Many contemporary deeds are on microfiche and may be printed on the one viewer/printer.
There is no single comprehensive centralized deed indexing system or ledger.
Indexes to deeds are available in either hand written ledgers, or in a computerized database,
available through publicly accessable terminals located in the Deed Room.
Curiously (and frustratingly), some deed book identifying number series over-lap each other.
For example, there ar two deed book "A"'s for different years, and there are numbered deed books
which share the same numbers as Order Books (which also contain deeds).
Many of the Tax Assessor (PVA) computerized parcel information does, in many cases, contain a deed book and page number reference.
Rarely are property survey maps filed in the deed room, but they can be very valuable if available.
Unlike many other jurisdictions, parcel survey marks or markers (pins) are generally non-existent, or are very difficult to locate in the field.
To this day, trees, rocks, creek and road beds are still considered legitimate boundary markers by real property surveyors.
Over 575 Individual Deeds
DEED INDEX IMAGES
The "Grantee" is commonly the buyer/lessee of the property, the "Grantor" is the seller/lessor.
The names in the deed indexes are not in strict alphabetic order, but are generally grouped by the surname.
1838 - 1938 GRANTEE - GRANTOR INDEX
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Misc.
1838 - 1938 GRANTOR - GRANTEE INDEX
Note that in several cases, pages entitled "Grantee - Grantor" were used in the "Grantor - Grantee" books.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ORIGINAL 1838 - 1938 DEED INDEX BOOKS
Hand written indexes 1 through 60 and A - Z were consolidated
into the 1838-1938 typed volumes (ref. above links).
1 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 .... 29 - 60
Books A - Z (not all books have indexes)
SELECTED TRANSCRIBED 1838 - 1938 DEED INDEX ENTRIES
A .... R
1939 - 2007 DEED INDEX IMAGES
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110
111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120
121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130
Books 132 - 166 (on the way)
Books 167 - 202 (microfiche deed images, computerized index)
Books "A" - "Z" January 1, 1962 - December 31, 1996 (alphabetized by Grantee/Grantor names) (on the way)
Research Aides & Material
Carter Co-Related Deed and Research Material
Send questions and comments to John W. Grace
Kentucky GenWeb project