General Resource Sites

• The Bureau of Land Management - - Eastern States, General Land Office 
  The Official Land Patent Records Site. This site has a searchable database of more than two million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States, issued between 1820 and 1908, including scanned images of those records. The Eastern Public Land States covered in this database are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin. Images of Serial patents, issued between 1908 and the mid-1960's are currently being added to this web site.
  • Land Descriptions 
• College of Chemistry - University of California at Berkeley - Common Equivalent Weights and Measures 
• A Dictionary of Units 
  This provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard' unit of the S I.
• English Customary Weights and Measures 
  Explains the origins of the system still in use in the United States.
• English weights & measures 
  Information on many areas of measurement including historical.
• Gamle norske måleenheter 
  From Norsk Forlishistorisk Forening. Provides old Norwegian measurements included area, volume, and coinage.
• German Genealogy: Old Units 
  Translation table of old to contemporary units of measurement. Includes area, length, volume, weights, counts, speed, coins, & worldwide measurements.
• How to Read and Understand Legal Land Descriptions - Understanding Legal Land Descriptions 
• How Many? - A Dictionary of Units of Measurement 
  How many cloves in a stone? How many bushels to a seam? This is an encyclopedic listing of current, historical, and obscure measurements from around the world.
• Index of Imperial Russian Weights & Measures 
  In order to find and use specific types of Russian records, resarchers need to be able to identify and understand some key terms in the Russian language. This glossary contains terms relating to weights and measures in Imperial Russia, transliterated from Russian, along with their English translations. The terms included here are those that you are likely to find in Russian genealogical sources.
• International Committee for Historical Metrology 
  The International Committee for Historical Metrology (CIMH) intends to develop and advance the research on the field of history of measures and weights.
• Old Imperial Lengths & Areas, etc 
• Online Conversions - Conversion of Metric Units at Asknumbers.com 
  Conversions between different metrics of length, weight, temperature and more.
• Sizes: The Online Quantinary 
  • World Weights and Measures, Past and Present; Units and Systems of Units; Indexes; Scales 
• Surveying Units and Terms 
• Surveying Units and Terms 
  A list of units of measure, surveying terms, water descriptions, and trees.
• U.S. Weights and Measures 
  Includes area measures and surveyor's chain measures.
• Weights & Measures 
  • Historical Metrology - England 
    Old English units of measurement.
  • Historical Metrology - Prussia 
    Old Prussian units of measure.
  • Historical Metrology - Scotland 
    Old Scottish units of measure.
• Weights and Measures 
  Books from the UK Society of Genealogists book store.
• Weights and Measures 
  Includes information on historical units of measure.
• Weights and Measures 
  From Genealogy in Belgium.
• Weights and Measures of the City of Winchester, England 
  The City of Winchester is fortunate in having in its keeping the oldest surviving set of standard weights, the oldest standard yard measure and a fine collection of other ancient measures and weights. These bear witness to the historic association of the name 'Winchester' with English measures of capacity.

Publications, Software & Supplies

• Cyndi's List Genealogy Bookstore 
  A categorized list of genealogy research books that looks a lot like my bookshelf at home.

• Amazon.com Genealogy Bookstore - History Weights Measures 
  The following are individual book titles of interest for this topic. The book links below point to the Amazon.com bookstore online where you may purchase the book if you wish. These links are provided to bring these published resources to your attention as an aid to your research. Follow the links to books of interest to make note of their title, author, publisher, and ISBN. You might then use this information to obtain the book from your local library or your favorite corner book shop.
  • Estate Inventories: How to Use Them 
    A book by Kenneth L. Smith.
  • How heavy, how much, and how long?: weights, money and other measures used by our ancestors 
    A book by Colin R. Chapman.
  • Reading the Numbers: A Survival Guide to the Measurements, Numbers, and Sizes Encountered in Everyday Life 
    A book by Mary Blocksma.
  • The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey 
    A book by by Herbert Arthur Klein.
  • The Sizesaurus: From Hectares to Decibels to Calories, a Witty Compendium of Measurements 
    A book by Stephen Strauss.
  • Weights and Measures 
    A book by J. T. Graham.
  • Weights, Money and Other Measures Used by Our Ancestors 
    A book by Colin R. Chapman.
  • What Did They Mean by That: A Dictionary of Historical Terms for Genealogists  
    A book by Paul Drake.

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