User:Sabwoo/Sandbox

Links to Articles of Interest
My User Page My Talk Page United States Page has links to any State Page The following are links to counties that are listed as Extinct or Renamed Arizona Counties, but were discontinued. Pah-Ute· Rio Virgin The following are links to counties that are listed as Extinct or Renamed Arizona Counties, but never were. They were really New Mexico counties. Bernalillo· Doña Ana· Rio Arriba· Santa Ana· Socorro· Taos· Valencia The following are links to counties that are listed as Extinct or Renamed Arizona Counties, but never were. They were really proposed counties, that were rejected. Castle Dome· Ewell· Mesilla

Previous Jurisdictions and Record Repositories
Locating records of your ancestors
 * Find where your ancestor lived
 * Identify when your ancestor live there
 * Locate the jurisdiction covering the land where your ancestor lived
 * Determine the record repositories for that jurisdiction

For example, suppose you believe your ancestor lived in Tucson, Arizona in 1856.
 * In the present day, Tucson is indeed located in the State of Arizona.
 * But Arizona didn't exist in 1856. Arizona Territory wasn't created until 1863.
 * Before that the land belonged to New Mexico Territory, which was created in 1850. Your ancestor lived in New Mexico Territory. This jurisdiction still exists today as the State of New Mexico.
 * In 1853, the US bought the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, which contained land south of the Gila River. This is the land where Tucson is located. In 1854, this land was given to New Mexico Territory and in 1855 this land was added to Dona Ana county. Your ancestor lived in Dona Ana County, which still exists today in the State of New Mexico.
 * Putting this altogether, your ancestor actually lived in Tucson, Dona Ana County, New Mexico Territory in 1856. Therefore look for records at Tucson, at Dona Ana County, and at the State of New Mexico.

Sometimes, records were recorded in a county where your ancestor did not live. Maybe there was confusion of where the borders were. Or maybe it was a shorter distance to the neighboring county seat. There could be several reasons, so don't overlook records in nearby counties. But treat this as the exception to the rule and check the most obvious county first.

From 1846 To 1863
18 Aug 1846 - During the war with Mexico, the US took control of Santa Fe and proclaimed sovereignty over the land that later became the New Mexico Territory. Look for records in the Mexico Archives and the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

4 July 1848 - The US obtained clear title to the previous Mexico land. Through the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Mexico ceded all of present day California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of present day Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Part of the international boundary was in dispute. The land south of the Gila River in present day Arizona was not ceded, it remained in control of Mexico. Look for records in the National Archives and Records Administration, the Mexico Archives and the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

13 Dec 1850 - The US created the New Mexico Territory from unorganized federal land. This territory named after the country of Mexico. Some counties were created, but they were small and covered land only in present day New Mexico. The land in the present day Arizona was at that time unorganized county land. Also the land south of the Gila River still belonged to Mexico. Look for records in the Mexico Archives and the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

9 Jan 1852 - New Mexico redefined the boundaries of previous counties and created new ones to cover all the land within its territory. The boundaries of Bernalillo, Rio Arriba, Santa Ana (extinct), Taos, and Valencia counties were stretched across present day Arizona and Nevada to the California border. Look for records in Bernalillo, Rio Arriba, Taos, and Valencia counties. 9 Jan 1852 - New Mexico redefined the boundaries of previous counties and created new ones to cover all the land within its territory. The boundary of Socorro County was stretched across present day Arizona to the California border. Look for records in Socorro County. 9 Jan 1852 - New Mexico redefined the boundaries of previous counties and created new ones to cover all the land within its territory. The boundary of Dona Ana County was stretched to include land in present day Arizona. Look for records in Dona Ana County.

30 Dec 1853 - The US bought the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico. It contained lands south of the Gila River in present day Arizona and New Mexico. It also settled the International boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico. Look for records in the National Archives and Records Administration, the Mexico Archives, and the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

4 Aug 1854 - The land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase was officially added to New Mexico Territory, it became non-county land. Look for records in the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

3 Feb 1855 - Dona Ana County gained all the land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase. The boundary was stretched across present day Arizona to the Baja California border. Look for records in Dona Ana County.

1 Feb 1860 - New Mexico created Arizona County from land in Dona Ana County. Arizona County was located entirely within present day Arizona. Look for records in Dona Ana County.

12 Jan 1861 - New Mexico created San Juan (original, extinct) from land in Taos County. Look for records in Taos County.

18 Jan 1862 - New Mexico discontinued San Juan (original, extinct) returning the land to Taos County. Look for records in Taos County. 18 Jan 1862 - New Mexico discontinued Arizona County returning the land to Dona Ana County. Look for records in Dona Ana County.

28 Jan 1863 - New Mexico re-created Arizona County from Dona Ana County. Look for records in Dona Ana County.

From 1863 To Now
24 Feb 1863 - The US created the Arizona Territory from the western half of New Mexico Territory. All previous counties were discontinued for this new territory. Look for records in the Arizona State Library and New Mexico State Records Center and Archives 10 Nov 1864 - Arizona created four counties: Mohave, Pima, Yavapai, and Yuma counties. All four of these counties named for Indian tribes. Look for records in Mohave, Pima, Yavapai, and Yuma counties. 22 Dec 1865 - Arizona created Pah-Ute County from the northern half of Mohave County. This county named for the Paiute Indians, using the spelling of that day. Both Mohave and Pah-Ute counties covered land which was later given to Nevada. Look for records in Mohave County. 5 May 1866 - The US removed the northwest corner from Arizona Territory (parts of Pah-Ute and Mohave counties) and gave that land to the State of Nevada. Nevada used that land to add to Lincoln and Nye counties. But Arizona previously had claim to that land and opposed this transfer, twice petitioning congress to repeal the law. Up thru 1868, representatives from Pah-Ute County attended the Arizona Legislature. Look for records in Lincoln, Nye, and Mohavecounties. 18 Feb 1869 - Utah also laid claim to land in the southeastern corner of Nevada by creating Rio Virgin County from land in Washington County, Utah; as well as land outside of Utah in Nevada and Arizona. This county named for the Virgin River. Look for records in Washington, Lincoln, Nye, and Mohave counties. 14 Feb 1871 - Arizona created Maricopa County from land in Yavapai County. This county named for the Maricopa Indians. Look for records in Maricopa and Yavapai counties. 18 Feb 1871 - Arizona discontinued Pah-Ute County. In effect, withdrawing claim to that land after exhausting all legal recourse. The remnant of Pah-Ute County still in Arizona was returned to Mohave County. Look for records in Mohave County. 16 Feb 1872 - Utah discontinued Rio Virgin County. In effect, withdrawing claim to that land after exhausting all legal recourse. The remnant of Rio Virgin County still in Utah was returned to Washington County. Look for records in Washington County. 1 Feb 1875 - Arizona created Pinal County from lands in Maricopa and Pima counties. This county named for the Pinal Indians. Look for records in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties. 14 Feb 1879 - Arizona created Apache County from land in Yavapai County. This county named for the Apache Indians. Look for records in Apache and Yavapai counties. 1 Feb 1881 - Arizona created Cochise County from the eastern part of Pima County. This county named for Cochise, the great Apache warrior who had died seven years before. Look for records in Cochise and Pima counties. 8 Feb 1881 - Arizona created Gila County from lands in Maricopa and Pima County counties. This county named for the Gila River. Look for records in the Gila, Maricopa, and Pima counties. 10 Mar 1881 - Arizona created Graham County from lands in Apache and Pima counties. This county named for an early Arizona pioneer. Look for records in Apache, Graham, and Pima counties. 19 Feb 1891 - Arizona created Coconino County from land in Yavapai County. This county named for the Coconino Indians. Look for records in Coconino and Yavapai counties. 21 Mar 1895 - Arizona created Navajo County from the west half of Apache County. This county named for the Navajo Indians. Look for records in Apache and Navajo counties. 15 Mar 1899 - Arizona created Santa Cruz County from land in Pima County. This county named for the Santa Cruz River. Look for records in Pima and Santa Cruz counties. 10 Mar 1909 - Arizona created Greenlee County from land in Graham County. This county named for an early Arizona pioneer. Look for records in Graham and Greenlee counties. 27 Apr 1983 - Arizona created La Paz County from the northern half of Yuma County. This county named for the town of La Paz, Arizona. Look for records in La Paz and Yuma counties.

References

Extinct or Renamed Counties of Arizona - email to Dilts 1, no reply
There are seven articles for counties listed in the "Extinct or Renamed Counties" of Arizona - Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Rio Arriba, Santa Ana, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia. Those seven articles are your creation, and you have continued to support them by making changes. I particularly like the maps you added.

But I have a disagreement with those seven articles. They are listed in the article for Arizona, indicating that they were counties of Arizona. The titles of those seven articles state very clearly that they were counties of Arizona. At first I edited those articles to show that none of them were counties of Arizona. I believe the facts show this. Then I thought the problem is the title of the articles, so it needs to be changed. Finally I realized that the basic premiss of the articles is faulty, they were never counties of Arizona. I notice that in your continuing editing, you left my wording remain in those articles.

Suppose that you had an ancestor living on the land that would one day become Arizona, that is before 1863. He would have lived in New Mexico Territory in one of those seven counties, but it would have been a New Mexico county. Any records that he would have generated, would be sent to the county offices of that New Mexico county.

Then in 1863, everything changed. Arizona Territory was created from the western half of New Mexico Territory. All counties that had existed before on that land were discontinued. Soon Arizona created four new counties for this new territory - Mohave, Yavapai, Yuma, and Pima.

Your hypothetical ancestor would have lived in one of those four Arizona counties. Any records that he generated would be sent to the county offices of that Arizona county. None of those four Arizona counties have been discontinued, but over the years have been divided up until Arizona now has 15 counties. Only one county has been discontinued: Pah-Ute.

For me, the purpose of the Family Search Wiki is to identify the location where records may be found, so that those who don't know may be led to the right location. I don't believe those seven articles above help to do this.

The information in those seven articles is good information, but it really belongs in the New Mexico county articles. I propose to transfer that information, then remove those seven Arizona articles. But I didn't want to proceed with this, without giving you a chance to explain your side of things. I would like for this to be done by agreement. Please let me know.

I also see that you are a big contributor for three other articles in the "Extinct or Renamed Counties" of Arizona - Castle Dome, Ewell, and Mesilla.

Since those three counties never existed, those articles do not lead to finding any records. They are not helpful. I propose to remove those three articles. But again, I ask for your side of the story, before I proceed. Please let me know.

In the end, I intend to have only two articles listed - Pah-Ute and Rio Virgin. The only reason Rio Virgin will be listed, is that it incorrectly covered land in Arizona and therefore might have some records of Arizona. For me the reason for doing all this is to make things clear and helpful for those just starting out in genealogy.

I have come to the conclusion that those ten articles should be removed from the Arizona article as "Extinct or Renamed Counties." It appears that you believe otherwise. I would appreciate understanding your reasons and working together to make the Arizona article better.

Extinct or Renamed Counties of Arizona - Dsammy 1
I see that you are a contributor to three articles in the "Extinct or Renamed Counties" of Arizona - Castle Dome, Ewell, and Mesilla. For me, the purpose of the Family Search Wiki is to identify the location where records may be found, so that those who don't know may be led to the right location. I don't believe those three articles above help to do this.

Since those three counties never existed, those articles do not lead to finding any records. They are not helpful. I propose to remove those three articles. But before I proceed, I ask for your side of the story. I would like for this to be done by agreement. Please let me know.

In the end, I intend to have only two articles listed - Pah-Ute and Rio Virgin. The only reason Rio Virgin will be listed, is that it incorrectly covered land in Arizona and therefore might have some records of Arizona. For me the reason for doing all this is to make things clear and helpful for those just starting out in genealogy.

I have come to the conclusion that those three articles should be removed from the Arizona article as "Extinct or Renamed Counties." It appears that you believe otherwise. I would appreciate understanding your reasons and working together to make the Arizona article better.


 * They STAY. Part of Rio Virgin County was northwest corner of Arizona after it was abolished after the boundaries of Utah Territory was changed when state of Nevada was created. It is not 100 percent Nevada. Please restore it. Of all states, you picked on Arizona to try to delete. It does NOT means the search for records. Wiki is "Reference Wiki" and it is stated as such, meaning not just the records, but also research to guide anyone looking for right directions. You want to remove the road signs, setting the researchers on roads to nowhere! Dsammy 23:51, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Extinct or Renamed Counties of Arizona - Dilts 2
There are seven articles for counties listed in the "Extinct or Renamed Counties" of Arizona - Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Rio Arriba, Santa Ana, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia. These seven articles are your creation, and you have continued to support them by making changes. Perhaps you feel a closeness to them. I particularly like the maps you added.

But I have a disagreement with these seven articles. They are listed in Arizona, indicating that they were counties of Arizona. The titles of these seven articles very clearly state that they were counties of Arizona. But actually, all of these seven were counties of New Mexico. They covered land which later was in Arizona and Nevada, but any records created were sent to their respective New Mexico county offices.

When Arizona became a territory, all seven of these counties were discontinued in Arizona and completely replaced. None of these seven counties were ever Arizona counties. Leaving them in is not helpful to those new to genealogy. For me, the purpose of the Family Search Wiki is to identify the location where records may be found, so that those who don't know may be led to the right location. I don't believe these seven articles help to do this.

The information in the body of these seven articles is good information, but that information belongs in the New Mexico county articles. I propose to transfer that information, then remove these seven counties from the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona and delete them. But I don’t want to proceed with this, without giving you a chance to explain your side of things. I am not perfect and maybe I have overlooked something. I would like for this to be done by agreement. Please let me know.

There are three other counties listed in the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona - Castle Dome, Ewell, and Mesilla. I know you have made changes to these and maybe have a closeness for them as well. But none of these three were ever counties of Arizona, they were only “proposed counties” that were rejected. No records were ever created for these counties. Leaving them in is not helpful to those new to genealogy. I propose to remove these three counties from the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona and delete them.

Neither of the above proposals have yet been done. I would appreciate understanding your acceptance or opposition and why. I would like to work with you on making the Arizona article better. For me the reason for doing all this is to make things clear and helpful for those just starting out in genealogy.


 * Thank you for kindly waiting to get my point of view. The real question here is NOT whether a county was ever part of Arizona, nor is it a question of whether a county ever existed. Think more like a genealogical researcher (or pre-Arizona recorder of deeds), and less like a dictionary writer. The real question is how might a reader possibly look up such counties, and in which repositories might they find their ancestors? Or, another possible way of looking at the question would be to ask if there is a deed or other official paper with a supposedly purely New Mexico county mentioned on it even though the ancestor actually lived in what later became Arizona. If so, would not the logical place to look for such a deed be in the county seat of the said NM county? Moreover, a certain fort was a few hundred meters into modern Arizona, but was briefly a New Mexico county's seat. We need to teach readers that boundaries change, borders can get confusing, and that smart genealogists sometimes need to hunt for records outside of modern boundaries. We need to teach readers that sometimes their ancestors records are outside of Arizona, especially if their ancestor lived in AZ prior to the time Arizona was created. Although it is not likely someone living on the Arizona strip ever conducted business in Taos, New Mexico, it is possible, and listing Taos as a former county in what eventually became Arizona is a way of alerting readers to the possibilities. I would strongly resist any effort to de-list pre-Arizona counties because it would hide potential places to look for an ancestor's records. We need to look for more ways to inform readers about potential genealogical record repositories. We need to avoid hiding potential repositories behind inflexible definitions of what goes where and when geographically. For new genealogists, clinging to legal definitions of modern boundaries is not informative about where to look for records created BEFORE those boundaries were drawn.


 * Would you be willing to explore other alternatives? If you cannot abide "Extinct" counties, feel welcome to find a more appropriate label for the group. But the solution is NOT to delete references to counties that might be listed on an ancestor's deed, nor to pretend New Mexico (and Mexico, and New Spain, and Spain) never had jurisdiction over what is now Arizona. Nor would it be appropriate to pretend researchers for ancestors living in Las Vegas should never ever look in Arizona repositories for pre-Nevada Las Vegas sources.


 * The most unchanged state is Delaware. Since 1776 her three counties have never changed. Yet Delaware was part of Pennsylvania, Maryland, The Dominion of New England, New Netherland, and New Sweden--so good researchers need to know to also look in the appropriate repositories in Philadelphia, Annapolis, Boston, Amsterdam, and Stockholm to find all the records of their early colonial Delaware ancestors. EVERY state has changed jurisdictions and we need to inform our readers about that. So I absolutely oppose deleting references to extinct counties even if they were technically in other states.


 * Please show me the positive way you plan to inform new Arizona researchers about New Mexico repositories with their ancestors' names on their records. Please make me a better offer than negatively deleting/hiding pages to which I am "close." I'm willing to listen and consider if you can come up with a better way to inform readers about changing jurisdictions, but until then, please NO deletion requests, no de-listings of extinct counties pages, and no tranferring of this kind of information from Arizona to New Mexico pages. I cannot see how your proposal will possibly alert new genealogists about jurisdiction changes and the need to search possible alternative repositories for early Arizona ancestors. To my way of thinking it would seriously hold-back new genealogists rather than helping them. For the new genealogist who has no clue that Arizona was ever considered part of New Mexico, where do they pick up that insight? Your proposal would seem to require them to somehow magically know that they must look in New Mexico repositories for some records of ancestors who lived in what later became Arizona. If we don't tell them about this problem on the Arizona pages, then how do they find out?


 * This problem is messy. I am painfully aware that "Taos County, Arizona" will NEVER be found on any deed or other official paper. But "Taos County" COULD appear on a deed of someone who lived in what later became Arizona. If Taos County could be on their deed I beilieve such an odd page title as "Taos County, Arizona" is appropriate and for practical purposes REQUIRED. I'm willing to be messy and create fictional county-state names if that is the best way to help me teach people that they also need to look for their "Arizona" ancestor in Taos, New Mexico repositories. If you can find a better way to teach this concept to new genealogists -- please convince me. Otherwise, please edit Arizona's extinct counties pages only in a positive way by enhancing their content. Please avoid negative editing that deletes, transfers to another state, or in any fashion hides the concept such pages are trying to teach from new genealogists seeking records of their ancestors in what eventually became Arizona.


 * Would you feel any better about:
 * "Taos County (NM), Arizona"
 * "Taos (NM) County, Arizona"
 * "Taos County, New Mexico in Arizona"(in navboxes "Taos, NM in AZ")
 * or something similar as a page title and extinct county link in navboxes at the bottom of all AZ county pages? Would you let me keep such pages for Arizona if we could find a compromise on their titles? DiltsGD 14:01, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

Extinct or Renamed Counties of Arizona - Dsammy 2
From your strongly worded reply to my first message, I see that you really care about the Arizona article in the Research Wiki. I care also. I live in Arizona and my family has been here since 1882, that is why I try to improve the Arizona article.

But I am at a loss as to why you feel the way you do. Your reply was confusing to me. I want to understanding your reasoning. So, let me state again in more detail what I propose to do, then you tell me what it is you object to and why. I am not perfect and maybe I have overlooked something. Please let me know.

It seems you believe that I want to delete Rio Virgin County. Not true, I would not delete it. I want to keep it. Rio Virgin County was created by Utah, but also included land outside of Utah in present day Arizona and Nevada. Land records created for Arizona and Nevada were sent to the Rio Virgin County offices. I want Rio Virgin County listed in the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona. I propose to leave things the way they are for Rio Virgin County.

I also want Pah-Ute County listed in the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona. It was created by Arizona and covered land in present day Arizona and Nevada, some of the same land covered by Rio Virgin County. Records were created for land in Arizona and Nevada that were sent to the Pah-Ute County offices. I propose to leave things the way they are for Pah-Ute County.

There are seven other counties listed in the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona - Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Rio Arriba, Santa Ana, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia. All of these seven counties were created by New Mexico, but covered land which later was in Arizona and Nevada. Any records created were sent to their respective New Mexico county offices. When Arizona became a territory, all seven of these counties were discontinued in Arizona and replaced. None of these seven counties were ever Arizona counties. Leaving them in is not helpful to those new to genealogy. I propose to remove these seven counties from the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona and delete them.

There are also three other counties listed in the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona - Castle Dome, Ewell, and Mesilla. I know you have made many changes to these and maybe have a closeness for them. But none of these three counties were ever counties of Arizona, they were “proposed counties” that were rejected. They were never created, so no records were created for these counties. Leaving them in is not helpful to those new to genealogy. I propose to remove these counties from the Extinct and Renamed Counties of Arizona and delete them.

None of the above proposals have yet been done. I would appreciate understanding your reasons for opposing any of this. I would like to work with you on making the Arizona article better. For me the reason for doing all this is to make things clear and helpful for those just starting out in genealogy.

Extinct or Renamed Counties of Arizona - Dilts 3
I was pleasantly surprised to receive your reply. It was a great reply and I can agree with most everything you said. If I understand you correctly, you are very concerned in teaching those new to genealogy about historical boundary changes and previous jurisdictions. That way, they will learn where the records can be found. I can’t agree more, we see eye to eye on this. For me, the biggest reason for the Research Wiki is to show where the records are located. I hope we can work together to accomplish this.

You are also right about something else. If we just delete those seven fictitious “Arizona” counties, those new to genealogy will not understand the previous jurisdictions before Arizona was created. I don’t want that to happen either. I propose we put on HOLD any removing and deleting of county articles while we come to agreement.

I do like what you say - teach everyone about the previous jurisdictions and where to find the records. Your heart is in the right place and your goal is worthy, but your method is too short-sighted. It only tries to solve the one change of jurisdiction and boundaries. That is from New Mexico to Arizona in 1863. What about the change from Mexico to New Mexico, or the earlier Spain to Mexico. And then there are all the changes to the Arizona counties since Arizona was created. Your method doesn’t address any of these changes, but yet each one brings new places where records are kept.

We both agree on the goal - to explain the previous jurisdictions and where records are located. To do this, I propose the following three step plan.
 * I will begin to compile a list of ideas to accomplish this goal and publish them on my Talk Page. You are free to add additional ideas. Two ideas are shown here.
 * Add more maps showing previous jurisdictions. Example: Pima County History (scroll down)
 * In the HISTORY section of the location articles, explain each jurisdictional change and make a link if possible to the record repository. Example: Arizona Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
 * I will begin to implement the above ideas on the real Arizona counties. You are free to help.
 * You monitor the progress towards the goal. When sufficient progress has been made, you delete those seven fictitious “Arizona” counties. Or let me know and I will have them deleted.

I was gradually moving toward the above anyway, but your challenge to come up with a better plan has focused my efforts. I think this plan should be extended to Nevada where there are also some fictitious counties. I would like to work together with you on this. Please let me know.