The abstracts, numbering many hundreds and referring to thousands of related individuals, all of whom are alphabetically indexed, generally include such information as the name of the testator, names of heirs and executors, references to property, and dates of probate. The book further contains records of marriages not shown in the Orange County marriage bonds. This is an unusually valuable publication for descendants of Orange County pioneers.
Court Records , Wills and Probate Records. When Munro was caught, he produced the spot where they were buried, but it was too late. Almost all of the books were destroyed.
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Only one of the books could be salvaged. With the advent of this crisis, the Register's office abandoned their deed book lettering system and started with a new set of numbered deed books. The first book was the one colonial deed book recovered from the forest and that is what sits on the top, left-most shelf in the office today, Orange County Deed Book 1.
The result was a devastating loss to Orange County.
As a title historian who has labored long and hard to try to understand the real estate transactions that must have happened in the 19 deed books that were lost forever, I can tell you I have a unique appreciation for the responsibilities of the Register of Deeds. It is difficult to even come to terms with the scope of what James Munro destroyed.
My point in recounting this tale is this: The single most essential responsibility of the Register of Deeds is the permanent preservation of the land records of Orange County. I believe the best way to do that is to complete the process of digitizing all of our land records, so that multiple digital copies can be stored in a variety of locations, ensuring that Orange County's land records will be securely stored with multiple offsite backups forever. If you are the incumbent, explain what you have done to improve the performance of the Register of Deeds.
If you are a challenger, explain what you would do to improve the office. I believe that Orange County needs to fully embrace e-recording transmission and recording of instruments via the internet. Right now, only out-of-county attorneys are allowed to use the system.
In-county attorneys are required to have their staff bring the documents to the Register of Deeds office. For the dozens of real estate transactions that happen in Chapel Hill and Carrboro law offices every day, someone must drive the documents on a 20 mile round-trip to get them recorded. This is an extremely wasteful practice that is largely unnecessary. The process for implementing a full e-recording system has begun. As the new Register of Deeds, I will move quickly to ensure that the system is available to all closing attorneys. When it comes to the office of Register of Deeds, how would you make accessing or filing public documents easier and more accessible to the public?
People & Families of Orange County
I believe my answer to Question 3 addresses the question of how I will make filing instruments easier. Regarding making information more accessible to the public, I think there are four important things we can do:. For those doing title research on the internet — particularly those who are not already trained on Orange County's website — the search interface is inscrutable:. All the tools are there, but the system is not at all intuitive. It bears a good deal of explaining, but the site provides little or none of that explanation.
Worse yet, the ROAM system does not work properly on all browsers, I find the system near impossible to use on a smart phone, and ROAM insists on using pop-up windows which cause numerous user headaches. In short, Orange County is using a proprietary system that locks out internet users on certain platforms. In general, I believe that government needs to move away from the use of customized proprietary information software. Proprietary systems are generally more expensive, and in certain ways, they tend to be designed to limit the users' access to public information.
I believe that it will take time and effort to create a better website, but that a county as sophisticated as ours needs and deserves a first class real property information system that is free, easy to understand and available to all platforms and browsers. I fulfilled my undergraduate language requirement by studying Spanish and also attended a Spanish immersion school in Guatemala one summer.
Deborah B. Brooks - INDY Week
I am a fluent if improper speaker of Spanish and have maintained outstanding connections in the Latino community in Carrboro. As Register of Deeds, I will make sure that we improve upon the Spanish language skills of the Register of Deeds staff — particularly on the vital records side where many visitors speak Spanish as their first language. As well, I have heard Sara Stephenson make the point that the Register of Deeds website is highly deficient in Spanish language content.
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At present, ROAM includes land records of Orange County going back net even to the midth century, whereas our records go back to the midth century. While the oldest material is perhaps not as high a priority for being put online, all of that material needs to get out onto the internet, and as Register of Deeds I will make that happen. Even very old deed books contain at least some information that is relevant and useful to know today. For example, a private easement signed over a century ago will commonly still be in use today; the nature and scope of such an easement is determined by the original language used in the documents granting the easement.
Strength: Very Weak.
Orange County History Guide: Genealogy
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