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UNITED STATES LAND PATENTS

© Christine Sievers

Land! That was why many of our ancestors left their crowded homeland. America was wide open, with the possibility of obtaining land that only the rich could afford in their homeland.

For genealogists, the records they left behind in their quest for obtaining this land is a wealth of information. But, land records can be confusing. There are so many different types. So, I started my study of land in America at the beginning (or almost the beginning) with land patents.

Land patents are acquired when land is transferred from the federal government to a private party. George G. Morgan in his short and informative article, Land Records Online discusses the difference between state and public lands. He mentions the Bureau of Land Management site, also. This is the site we are going to look at this week.

The Bureau of Land Management - Eastern States, General Land Office is the Official Land Patent Records site. The have a searchable database of more than 2 million records. The best place to start is at their BLM - ES, GLO Records - Frequently Asked Questions. They do a very good job of explaning and simplifying.

After reading the FAQ, it is time to head for their search engine at BLM - ES, GLO Records - Search Land Patents. I pulled up one record which gave me links to the description of the land, a digital image of the patent, and information on ordering a copy.

Your ancestor may not be in this database, but they provide you with a valuable list of state links at their BLM - ES, GLO Records - State Resources for Research site. Be sure to browse this link.

OTHER EXCELLENT SITES:

Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records by William Dollarhide gives you more information about land records and a fascinating case study that will show how valuable these records can be.

International Internet Genealogical Society University : US Land & Property Research is an easy turorial that is worth a visit.

For a detailed study of land records read Linda Haas Davenport's History & Use of Land Records.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I started almost at the beginning. For information about the records of land before they were part of the United States read Genealogical Riches in the "American State Papers" by Donovan Yingst.

ALSO:

For Canada, The National Archives of Canada has a searchable database of Dominion Land Grants