Mappy Monday- Following John Cope Louthan

1897 Township Map of Linn County, Missouri

Detail showing R60 N R20W Section 34

John Cope Louthan, my 2x great grandfather, moved from Washington County, Ohio to Linn County, Missouri following the Civil War.  He purchased 240 acres in Benton Twp. A General Warranty Deed made the 26th day of February, 1884, shows the land being sold to his step-father, William Ormiston, for $3,000. (see below)  The township map above  shows section 34; this map is from 1897.  

Sale of land in Linn County, Missouri

 You will notice on the deed above, John is listed as a single man.  He was widowed in 1881 and married again after he sold his land and just before he moved to Kansas.  John moved to Barber county, Kansas in 1884 where we find a land patent for him in the Osage Trust Lands.

His land patent states the following: Osage Trust Lands, Certificate No. 2700.

Whereas John C. Louthan of Barber County, Kansas has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Larned, Kansas, whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said John C. Louthan according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820, entitled "An Act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands," and the acts supplemental thereto, for the Northwest quarter of section twelve in township thirty-one south of range eleven west of the sixth principal meridian in Kansas containing one hundred and sixty acres according to the official plat of the survey of the said lands returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said John C. Louthan.  Dated 18 November 1899.  John went to Barber County in 1884 and it took his 15 years to pay for his 160 acres.  The plat map to the right is from 1897.

 In the Land Run into the Cherokee Outlet (Cherokee Strip) John C. Louthan left Barber county, Kansas and filed on a homestead in Oklahoma Territory.  You will see him highlighted SE of the Barnes community.  His son, Robert Hiram Louthan is highlighted to the west of this community.  His land patent on this quarter section of land is as follows:

Homestead Certificate 4493, Application 7105.

Whereas there has been deposited in the General Land Office of the United States a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Alva, Oklahoma, whereby it appears that, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved 20th May 1862, "to secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain," and the acts supplemental thereto, the claim of John C. Louthan has been established and duly consummated in conformity to law, for the South East quarter of Section Twenty five in Township Twenty North of Range Sixteen West fo Indian Mericidan in Oklahoma containing one hundred and sixty acres according to the Official Plat of the Survey of the said Land, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General: ... Dated 1 July 1903.

I use maps in my genealogy research because I like to see with my eyes where they lived in relation to  landmarks, geography, and communities in that area. I can also find the names of their neighbors, who may have migrated to that location about the same time as my ancestor. This can lead to discovering possible unknown relatives. I endeavor to find the map that was printed nearest the time period during which my ancestor was a resident.  It helps to put those township, range and section numbers into perspective.  

What doesn't show on the Major County Plat Map (above), is the location of Hope Cemetery just south of John Cope Louthan's homestead.  Using a modern map found on Google Maps, I found the cemetery and the road on which it is located today.