Maine Land and Property

United States   U.S. Land and Property   Maine    Land and Property



History
1622 - Sir Ferdinando Gorges and James Mason received a land patent for New England, including Maine.

1629 - Gorges and Mason divided the land, and Gorges retained Maine.

1652 - Maine became part of Massachusetts. Maine land records often were recorded in Massachusetts state land records and can be found in the Massachusetts State Archives.

1700 - Massachusetts created the 1st 'Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands', including Maine.

1783 - Massachusetts created the 2nd 'Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands', specifically to survey, appraise and sell land in Maine.

1819 - Maine separated from Massachusetts, but Massachusetts retained ownership of half the available land.

1853 - Maine bought the rest of the land still owned by Massachusetts within Maine borders.

Colonial Records
Land ownership in the colonial period can be traced to royal charters, proprietary grants, and Indian deeds. During this period, all of Maine was included in York County. You will find many of the early records for 1642 to 1737 in:


 * York Deeds. 18 Volumes. (Portland, Maine: John T. Hull, 1887-1910). Each volume is well indexed. Volume (book)2 is free on the Archive.com site. All 18 volumes are on the New England Historic Genealogical Society site ($). The Family History Library has all 18 volumes  book 974.195 R2m; film 599904 item 3 through film 599914; on 186 fiche 6046839]. Volume 10 is on film and fiche only.

Post-Revolutionary War Records
In 1783 the 2nd Massachusetts Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands was formed to sell unclaimed land and distribute grants to soldiers. In 1794 more than 2,000,000 acres were sold.

The Maine State Archives has the records of the Maine Land Office. A list of the principle collections with an index of the Revolutionary War Land Grants, 1830s is shown on the Web site.


 * Massachusetts, Land Agent. Massachusetts Deeds, 1794-1860. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1954). On five Family History Library films starting with 010248 item 3. Each volume is indexed.

From 1820 to 1853, the state of Maine purchased the remaining land from Massachusetts and held auctions to distribute it. The Land Office of Maine was established in 1824 to distribute this land.


 * Maine. Land Office. Record of Deeds of the Land Office of Maine, 1824-1861. Ten Volumes. Indexes are in the volumes. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1954). films 10238-41.

After 1835, Revolutionary War veterans or their widows made applications to the Land Office for land. The following includes claims, applications, and declarations.


 * Maine. Land Office. Revolutionary War Veterans Land Records. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1954). films 010249-60].

A partial index to these records is:


 * Charles J. House. Names of Soldiers of the American Revolution Who Applied for State Bounty, pub. 1893. (Reprint. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967). book 974.1 M2n; film 1033754 item 16; film 010248]. Film 010248 contains handwritten numbers of certificates next to the names of the soldiers and another index of names of soldiers who applied to Massachusetts for State Bounty under services rendered in the Revolutionary War.

County Records
After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were recorded by the register of deeds in each county. The addresses and a description of each county's records are in:


 * Lindberg, Marcia Wiswall. Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research. 3rd ed. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1993). This is an excellent guide to Maine towns and counties, location of public records, and genealogical societies. book 974 D27g 1993]..

The Maine Land Records Office has an index to deeds for several of the county deed registries that can be searched by name of buyer or seller and property address.

The following counties have 2 deed districts with specific towns in each:


 * - Aroostook County (this web site gives the areas served by each district) = Northern District and Southern District


 * - Oxford County = Eastern District serves all areas not served by the Western district, and Western District serves the towns of Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Hiram, Lovell, Porter, Stoneham and Stow.

The Family History Library has copies of deed records for all counties, most to about 1900. See the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under MAINE, [COUNTY] - LAND AND PROPERTY.

Web Sites

 * The Maine State Archives has the records of the Maine Land Office. A list of the principle collections with an index of the Revolutionary War Land Grants, 1830s is shown on the Web site.
 * My Maine Genealogy gives good information about researching land records in Maine.
 * Maine Land Records and Deeds Directory. Internet site ($), accessed 12/28/2010.