DELUXE Editions:

1. Are based on actual Geographical data for the subject county.
2. Contain 3 maps per Congressional Township: an all-name indexed Patent Map, a Road Map, and an Historical Map (current-day Rivers and Railroads), with the latter two maps containing city-centers and cemeteries.
3. Contain an Appendix of hundreds of known Aliquot Part descriptions (section parts).

1. Patent Maps are not based on actual Geographical data for the subject county, but rather on a typical 36-section Congressional Township.
2. Contain 1 map per Congressional Township: an all-name indexed Patent Map (no cemeteries, towns, rivers, roads, etc.)
3. Contain no Appendix of Aliquot Part descriptions (section parts).
4. The type-face (font) for Surname Indexes (county-wide and by-township) is smaller than what we use in Deluxe Editions

As of September 2005, we are publishing Deluxe Editions for counties in these states: Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Utah.

As of September, 2005, we are producing Homesteads Editions for counties in these states: Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. More states will be added in the future.

There are three primary reasons:
1. The Homesteads editions are less expensive to produce and we have had numerous requests for this sort of volume: one where family relationships can be discovered and analyzed, but without delving into the data involving the underlying geography.

2. The Deluxe editions are quite a bit more expensive to produce, but they bring to the table, a whole new set of fact-finding and analytical tools. (See the FAQ on "What's the Difference?" for more on this point.

3. To date, we have opted to produce Deluxe Editions only for states and/or counties where we can efficiently gain all the geographical data necessary to be able to map our patents in a manner that matches them up to the underlying geography. Our ability to produce Deluxe Editions for various states changes VERY OFTEN, so do not despair if it seems we are neglecting your state. We survey the geo-data world frequently and will endeavor to produce Deluxe Editions everywhere that we can do so at a reasonable cost in time and effort.

Historians, particularly family historians, know how much valuable information can be learned by analyzing land records from our nation's early settlers. 

For many years, these researchers have gained much by utilizing "first-owner" land records found in indexes compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

And now, for the first time anywhere, Greg Boyd, a software engineer, lawyer, businessman, and genealogist, has taken those records and mapped them, county by county, throughout 29 states. The maps are drawn using software it took Greg over two full years to create. Every day, Greg and the Arphax Publishing staff work toward putting these maps and their indexes into book form. These books are being released each week, usually with at least 3 new titles per week.

Typical counties have anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 parcels of land that are mapped. Maps are typically presented in 2-page spreads, each of which contains a six-square-mile Congressional (36-section) township, which in turn shows each patentee (first-owner) that Boyd has found in published BLM database indexes, as well as the year the patent was issued.

In each book, surname indexes are included as well as township-level, full-name indexes. Deluxe editions contain 2 additional maps per township: one that contains roads and the other which contains waterways. Both of these "extra" maps contain cemeteries and city-centers that have been gleaned from government sources.

So that's what the Family Maps books are in a nutshell. Other FAQs on this web site explain other aspects of this project.

Usually, No.

When we use the phrase "Homesteads Editions", we use it in the broadest possible sense. To the average American, a "homestead" can refer to much more than simply a piece of property gained under one of the "Homestead Acts."  It generally means something more along the lines of a "home-place" or a traditional site for a family's farm or urban home.

So, to answer this question more specifically, our "Homesteads Editions" can contain parcels of land which may or may not have been gained under a Homestead Act. They very well may have been gained under the Cash Sale Act of 1820 or other acts of a similar ilk.

Similarly, our Deluxe Editions contain more than just land gained under a Homestead Act, but will contain records obtained under the same various acts as those found in our Homesteads Editions.

In fact, it is possible, for a Deluxe or Homesteads Edition to contain NO land gained under a Homestead Act, but may contain thousands of parcels purchased under the Cash Sale Act of 1820.