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A new free online search tool has opened up public access to Luzerne County real estate deeds from 1907 to 1967.
The county had previously scanned and posted older deeds, but searchers had to know the book and page numbers to retrieve them.
Now the public can search by name because the county has scanned and uploaded index books that log each person and entity that bought or sold property, said Mary Dysleski, who oversees deeds.
The project unlocks records of interest to local history buffs, property researchers, genealogy tracers and even owners interested in the past of their own property, Dysleski said.
“I’m sure a lot of people will use this for their own information and curiosity,” Dysleski said.
Navigating the system may take some practice, largely due to the format in which these records were kept.
The general steps:
• The records may be accessed on the recorder of deeds page at www.luzernecounty.org in the document search section under the “IQS E Film Reader,” with users logging in as a guest.
• To search by name, users must click on the “infodex” tab at the top of the screen and select an index volume from a drop down box. There are three time periods — 1907 to 1924; 1925 to 1945; and 1946 to 1967. Within those spans, users also must choose whether they want to search individual or corporation grantors (sellers) or grantees (buyers).
• The county suggests typing only the last name in the search box because the system isn’t designed to capture both.
If the selected name appears somewhere in the index book for that period, the correct alphabetical section of the book will appear at the bottom of the screen.
• The index books are chronological, with the property transaction dates listed in the “date of deed” column.
That means users must page through each year and read the names to find the one they are seeking unless they have an idea of the year. Click on the arrow at the top of the page to the right of the binocular button to advance to the next page.
• When the correct entry is found, users must write down the volume and page numbers.
• Copies of the actual deeds are in a different database, located through the “EFilm Reader” tab at the top of the screen.
Type in the first number written down — the volume — in the box that says book and click on load film.
The second number — the page — must be typed in the box below. If the page number at the top of the old image appearing at the bottom of the screen does not match, users must hit the advance arrow until they get to the correct page.
While viewing the deed records is free, printing of the documents costs $1.50 per page.
The scanning and online database project was funded through a deeds archive fund that comes from a $3 fee on most office recordings, Dysleski said.
The computerization also created a backup copy of the documents. The county had microfilm copies, but the project revealed the quality of some microfilm records was poor, said Dysleski.
“The old paper index books get used a lot, so hopefully this will also help reduce wear and tear on those books,” Dysleski said.
Project contractor Info Quick Solutions, of Liverpool, N.Y., is in the process of scanning the first index book covering 1787 to 1906, which also will be added to the name search section, Dysleski said.
Although the index is not yet available, this first batch of deeds from the county’s formation in 1786 already has been scanned and posted, she said.
The first document filed in Deed Book 1 contains Ben Franklin’s commissioning of Lord Butler as the Luzerne County sheriff in 1787, and subsequent early handwritten deeds show purchases in pounds and shillings and different past spellings for some municipalities, including “Wilkesborough.”
Once the deed project is complete, Info Quick will start scanning in marriage licenses from 1885 through 2005 — a project funded by an automation account that must cover projects to preserve and access records, Dysleski said.
The index of marriage licenses also will be scanned to allow free searches by name, she said.
