George G. Morgan by How to Do Everything Genealogy

Author:How to Do Everything Genealogy [Genealogy, How to Do Everything]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Published: 2009-10-30T05:00:00+00:00

Federal-Land States Records

The Public Lands in the Federal-Land States were distributed in a variety of ways over different time periods. Others were auctioned or sold by lottery. Initial sales of land were conducted by auction with the land going to the highest bidder. Land offices opened and did the proverbial “booming business” in selling land to individuals wishing to settle on undeveloped properties to the west.

There were a number of transactions used for transferring ownership from the federal government to an individual (or organization). In order to purchase a parcel of land, an individual had to be a native-born citizen of the United States or must have filed a Declaration of Intent document to initiate the naturalization process. The exception to this requirement was in the case of bounty-land warrants.

The process of acquiring property usually began with the individual filing an application for a desired parcel of land. The person had to pay cash or present evidence of some form of credit. At that time, a warrant for survey was issued to accurately define the property description and to ensure that someone else did not already own the property. A completed survey report was submitted to the government and was recorded in a township plat book. The plat book consisted of a map of the township and a listing of the parcels. The surveys recorded here also included descriptions of the physical characteristics of the property, such as rocks, streams, forests, and other features.

Next, the information about the transaction was recorded in the tract book. You can use the tract books’ contents to point to specific townships to locate individual landowners’ records. All of the paperwork created and documentation supplied so far was then gathered together and sent to the General Land Office. The materials were placed in what is commonly known as a land-entry case file and the files were reviewed. There should be a case file for every application processed, regardless of whether it was approved or rejected. The General Land Office reviewed the land-entry case file and, if approved, issued to the applicant a document referred to as a ’final certificate.’ This indicated that all of the required steps had been taken and that a land patent for the parcel had been approved. The actual land patents were generated by the General Land Office and were sent to the local land office, where the applicant could then exchange the final certificate for the actual land patent. Figure 8-6 shows the land patent for my great-great-grandfather, John N. Swords, dated 10 August 1849, for a parcel of land in the area of Lebanon, Alabama.

The land patents have been digitized and indexed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management General Land Office (BLM-GLO). These can be searched in a database at www.glorecords.blm.gov, viewed, and printed. You also can order a certified copy of the document from that agency.

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