Wayne Co., Michigan, Land Record Abstracts

The Library of Michigan in Lansing has several volumes of Wayne County, Michigan, land record abstracts in their holdings [to ca 1869]. Most books have two separate indexes (which are then subdivided by Grantor/Grantee and then an "other" index -- all alpha); one in the middle of the book (indexing the first half) and one at the back of the book (indexing the second half). There is an additional master "alpha" index in two volumes, using Roman numerals to label the records. In order to match an item found in the Roman numeral index to the deed abstract books, one has to choose a book and check one of the first couple of pages to find the corresponding Roman numeral. The page in the abstract deed book with the Roman numeral listed also has the corresponding County numbers [which I assume is the Liber/Page identification that one would need if requesting a copy from the Wayne County, MI, Register of Deeds].

A sample entry:

Ant, Peter, of Wayne County, pur. fr. Anthony Fuhrman and w. Margaret of Wayne Co., 6 January 1850, lot 8 1/2 being part of the Antoine Beaubien Farm in Detroit; witnesses: John B. Schick and Henry Campau. Recorded: 6 January 1851 [1850?]
(Liber/Page 40-369)

Peter Ant is my grandchildren's ancestor; whether or not it's the Peter Ant named in the above land transaction is not certain. In 1870 "my" Peter Ant was living in Houghton Co., Michigan, with two of his daughters and his son, Peter, living nearby. There was no wife in the household. The children were listed as being born in Wisconsin.

1870 MI Census Portage Twp Houghton Co., MI
ANT, Peter, 48, m/w, laborer, b. Wurtemburg
" , Helena, w/f/16, keeping house, Wisconsin
" , Martha, 11, f/w, at home,WI

An entry in the St. Clement's cemetery was found for Barbara Fuhrmann, wife of Peter Ant, who died in 1864:

Burials in St. Clement Parish Cemetery, 1854-1977
Center Line, Michigan
Transcribed by Joyce (VanOverbeke) Sackleh
Barbara Ant (Furman) jan 24 1864 40 wife of Peter Ant

Because Peter Ant bought the Detroit property from Anthony & Margaret Fuhrman, I am speculating that Anthony and Margaret were his father-in-law and mother-in-law (could be brother-in-law, wife's uncle, etc). The good news is that I didn't have the names "Anthony" and "Margaret" to work with before finding the deed abstract in the Wayne Co. land records abstract book at the Library of Michigan. A quick search did not reveal Peter Ant or Anthony & Margaret Fuhrman in the 1850 MI census. A check of the City of Detroit directories, ca 1850 +, may help to verify whether or not the Ant family and/or the Fuhrman family still lived in Detroit in that time frame.