Land records are valuable for genealogical research. They provide evidence of places where your ancestor lived and for how long, when he or she moved into or out of a locality.
This has occurred in my own family search. I learned that my Great-great grandfather (on paternal side) purchased land in Wisconsin, the year, and the county/state of residence he lived all in the grantee deed. This helped me to trace his migration pattern backward and determine some years of where he lived or stayed that I was not sure about.

I have tested my DNA and learned a lot about how where my ancestors might have been 500 yrs ago.
Results give you estimates in regards to your ethnicity and the region it encompasses. I learned something more than what my past few generations said they were. DNA does not lie, if nothing else it confirms what you know, but I believe it can also show how your European heritage is influenced by history and culture over time.
For example the Swedes spent a lot of time nearly 400 yrs ago in Pomerania, in what was part of Germany until 1945. So my DNA indicates that I have Scandinavian ethnicity. This was one interesting finding about my history that was never known in the last 100yrs or so.

So Ancestry.com has its own DNA testing, a second one is Family Search and thirdly is 23andMe. I have tested at Ancestry and 23andMe. You can also transfer your raw data from AncestryDNA to GedMatch.  More on this topic in another post.

Went to a DNA program today at the Wisconsin Historical Society. A great learning experience and adds to my own review of results. Very interesting and another tool to learn your family history.

This individual is a relative on my maternal grandfather side, the Maas family. My Great-great grandfather, Jake Maas’s second wife was a Rakow. This would be Bertha Rakow’s brother out of Burlington, WI in Racine County.

Monday did a good 4 hrs of research for a client in this wonderful old building.

http://www.castlegarden.org/index.php

Some of you might find this useful in your search for ancestors that came through New York port prior to Ellis Island.

I recently went to the Wisconsin Historical Society and located the history of Walworth County, this volume was published in 1912 through a query I was able to find my maternal great-great Grandfather. At the time of publication my relative was alive and living in Lake Geneva, WI.
In your own search it is always good to check county records. My discovery informed me of new leads, such as, my maternal Great-great grandpa was born in Crailsheim , Württemberg , Germany in 1850. I learned his parents died when he was 6 and 8 yrs old. He lived with an aunt and came to America in 1870 landing in New York and worked for gardeners and dairymen on Long Island before going to Chicago in 1871. He came to WI after the Chicago fire and stayed in Walworth County for remainder of life owning a 200 acre farm. So exciting but also confirms other info I have previously collected.