Saturday, June 9, 2012

Look in the Deeds, indentures, for more information

After my adventures at the Los Angeles Hall of Records, at 222 Hill St., downtown LA, I did go to the LA County Clerk's/Recorder's Archives in Norwalk, California.  The parking is easy, and although there are lots of people ordering current birth, marriage, death records, the downstairs archives is nearly empty.  I went to the same Real Estate room in the Lower Level and got the same microfilm index looking for BLANDING as last year.  Then my memory of what I had done with last years searching came back to me.  In my notes I had the whole Blanding index results.  What I could do further, was look closely at the records I'd had microfilmed, and ask for the Book and Page number written in the documents I'd found.  That is, to ask for the book referred to in the deed or mortgage, etc.  
   For example in an Indenture, in Book 3686 page 24 dated 7 Jan 1909 is says that the indenture was made for $1400 with interest mentioned as secured by that certain Deed of Trust..."dated 25th day of October 1905, and recorded in the office of the County Recorder of the County of Los Angeles, State of California on the 9th day of November 1905, in BOOK 2487, Pg  156 of Trust Deeds...."   So I asked for the microfilmed records from book 2487 and found the new 9 page document "Deed of Trust" which I then purchased a copy of for $4 page (more or less, I forget).  I found three new documents, by searching for the items that were written into the previous documents I'd gotten last year when I was in a bit of a frenzy.
    So that's my story of trying to get as much information on my great-grandparents land records in Los Angeles starting in 1903.  I'm not done researching the property, but I think I might have exhausted all I could find in the LA County records, and tax mapbooks.    By the way, the guys in the Real Estate Archives room were very nice and helpful, and the woman upstairs where you pay for the copies in the current real estate room even remembered me from last year!
     Oh, one more thing, I found that my Frank Blanding has purchased, for $350 in Gold Coin of the USA...in hand... all property in Lot nine in the El Centro Tract, Colegrove from Herbert H. Greenfield.   Good grief, this is in Hollywood, not far from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and bordering Gower, Willoughby, El Centro, and Gregory.  I found no further reference to Frank Blanding in relation to this city block of about 24 lots.  What went on?  I didn't find a record of his sale of it.  I wonder it was a brief investment with Title Insurance and Trust Company.  The early assessor's mapbooks do not go back to 3 Jan 1904 when this document was written.  Hmmmmm.

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