I have been researching my husband’s ancestors, the Beck family of Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. During the process of my research, I was able to locate land records for Daniel Beck and his sons. These land records provided great evidence that helped connect the generations of this family. One of my favorite recent finds with regard to land ownership was a map of Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where the Beck family lived:
I discovered the map in an 1867 Atlas of Westmoreland County, which has been digitized, and images can be viewed in the USGenWeb Digital Map Library. This was a wonderful find! I was able to locate Daniel and three of his sons on this map, as shown in a close-up view of the map below:
Also present in the same area are Daniel Beck’s son-in-law D. Honse and Daniel’s son William Beck’s father-in-law J. Albright. Censuses corroborate the fact that all of these families were neighbors. It is so exciting to be able to visualize the area where these families lived!
If you have Pennsylvania ancestors, the USGenWeb Archives Digital Map Library for Pennsylvania is a great resource! Take some time to explore and see what you can learn about your ancestors.
Thanks for this great article! Just saved to my research library as I have SO many Pennsylvania ancestors to research in the future.
I’m so glad you found it helpful Lisa!
Did not know about these maps and now will be trying to find my husband’s early PA ancestors on some of these, thanks to you!
I’m so glad Marian!
Thanks for sharing! I have ancestors from Westmoreland Co,, I look forward to searching the resource you reference.
I’m so excited for you to see what you can find on these maps Barb!