Putting together deed records

Sure, it doesn't say outright I don't have a life, but it is sure implied. I was excited for spring break because it means I have time to go do genealogy research! I've started transcribing deed records from St Clair county, which leads me to a hint for beginning genealogists: Take photo's of the records, and write down the citation information. This means you can cover more ground later on, and you always have verification that the record is real. You need a good camera to do this (more than 2 megapixel for sure), because the records are really tough to read as is, but if it's blurry that makes it even worse.
Another hint when getting into deed records, don't just record the names of your relatives. There is lots of genealogical data that can be found in deed records, but they always show up in weird, or not predictable, ways. This week I found the probate of my ggggrandfather Phillips' will, confirmed that his wife remarried, and found new records that linked his kids to him.
Now that we have the records for Joseph and his kids, the next step is to find out where Joseph got the property. Looking through the other records, it appears that Joseph bought the property from his probable brother James Phillips (who married Dorcas Crawford) in 1857. This is looking good now. The record even has Dorcas' signature (not her real one, but it's noted there)! Next step: find out where James got the property.
Looking back through the records, James appears to have bought the land a year earlier (1856) from a William D. Washburn & wife (Lucinda Belcher based on a cursory Ancestry.com search). From the records I have, there doesn't appear to be a transaction between William Phillips and William Washburn. That's something that needs to be solved to see if that land has been the Phillips' land for a long time.
It appears that William has been found, in all places, Shelby County. His name shows up in the orphans court! It makes sense, because he shows up in the US Census in 1820 before he ends up in St Clair in 1830. Like I've said before, the county lines changed so much he may not have actually moved, the county lines may have moved around him. Charlene Simpson did say that Shelby County was near the area that William may have been living, at least for a while. And William may have not known where the new court house was. Either way the only way to find out is to look in the court house!

Review of my trip yesterday

According to the Phillipsdnaproject.com, the next grandfather on my Phillips line is a William Phillips who either married a Sarah Hays or Sarah Burleson. I'm not quite sure why there is a debate, since no one can produce a marriage license for either woman! Still, I'm very sure that he is the right person to look for, so most of my research is done to find him. Here's the story that Debra Cochran and I have been looking at:
William was born most likely in Georgia, possibly in one of the Carolinas. It appears that he moved to Tennessee, which is evidenced by one of his children noting they had been born in Tennessee in 1809 (John Phillips who married Dorcas Crawford). We believe he moved to White County, or Warren County, Tennessee. According to records, he was elected as Sheriff of White county, Tennessee. Then, according to this story on pages 2-3, he apparently murdered William Quarles, then escaped from jail in Nashville. This happened in 1814/1815, and then we believe he left for Alabama, which was at that time part of Mississippi territory. Alabama became a territory in 1817, then a state in 1819. Alabama would have been a great place to live in hiding, not many people lived here at the time, and no one would know about what you had done in another state. The real question is if this William Phillips is the same one I'm looking for. William appears to be in Shelby County in 1820, which goes along with my story so far. The question is: Where are the first records with William Phillips in the state of Alabama? When we find that, we will be able to ascertain if this is the same William Phillips.
While he is living in Alabama, he is found in St. Clair, Alabama in 1830 and 1840, then in Blount county in 1860, then St. Clair again in 1860. Thanks to findagrave.com, we now know that William and Sara left for Warren County, Tennessee before they died. Why did they do this? The community may have forgiven, or more likely forgotten, the murder. It doesn't appear to be a choice most people would make, but perhaps Sarah was homesick? We will likely never know that answer, but if you have an idea, let me know!