Taking a break from the digitizing to share that my father Dennis Shaw kept the property abstract for his TV shop on Broadway in Ft. Myers, FL. I’m so glad he did!

This wasn’t just any property. My grandfather bought the building in 1959, remodeled it in 1960 to become Kwik Fix TV, and moved into the apartment upstairs. (More photos to come later when I publish the full property history.)

Later, he added a swimming pool which was a blessing since I lived half a block away. We could walk down there and swim any time we wanted.

*Note: These photos were taken before floating chlorine tablet holders existed, so I have no idea what’s floating in the pool.

This abstract includes records as far back as 1882 when the U.S. Patent Office conveyed 160 acres to Joseph H. Brooker from the United States of America. Brooker paid $200! Imagine if you could pay $1.25 for an acre today.

Since the original conveyance was 160 acres, it’s safe to assume that this abstract at one time included our nearby house on Crawford St., my childhood home.

Abstracts are about more than sale dates and numbers of deeds. Included in this document on page 2 of “Abstract of Title No. 52-11” is my grandmother’s death certificate! Other accounts include scandalous court records. A family historian’s dream! Nothing like a good ugly divorce story to help the narrative. 🤫

Property sales don’t involve abstracts anymore. Instead of researching the history to ensure nobody else has a stake in the property, they now force buyers to get title insurance. No research necessary. Abstracters lost their jobs in the late 1980s and many ultra-loaded documents like this one were destroyed. So much genealogy data lost. It pains me.

Well, time to get back to the digitizing. When I’m done with this 200+ page document, I have four more tubs of slides and negatives to do!

Help!!!