Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)

Portal:United States Land and Property

Public Domain
The public domain included most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains that was obtained by the federal government. After the United States was established, some lands that had been claimed by the colonies were ceded to the federal government. The federal government also obtained land as a result of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the War with Mexico (1846-48), and other means.

Over the years, more than one billion acres of the public domain have been transferred to private or state ownership through the types of grants described below. Approximately 25 million surveyed lots were eventually described in tract books. An estimated 6 1/2 to 7 million land titles were granted to individuals and states.

To accomplish this massive distribution of land, the government needed to resolve Indian claims to the land and private claims by settlers already on the land (including those who had received grants from Spain, Mexico, or France). They also needed to encourage settlement of the open lands, reserve lands for military bounty, survey the land to provide a legal description, and establish a record-keeping system.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1785 was the first of over 300 laws to help accomplish these tasks. It established the rectangular survey system that divided most of the land in the public domain into townships and sections. Later laws established local land offices to distribute the land. These were under the direction of the General Land Office (GLO) in Washington, D.C. (now known as the Bureau of Land Management).

Types of Grants
The GLO distributed over 1,031,000,000 acres of the public domain lands as follows:

Donation lands and cash or credit sales. To encourage settlement of open lands, approximately 29 percent were sold very inexpensively for cash or credit (1785 to 1908) or donated to encourage settlement (1840s to 1903 in Florida, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington). '''Homestead grants. '''Another 28 percent of the land was distributed after 1862 to homesteaders who could receive title to the land by residing on it and making improvements for five years (various laws modified these requirements). About 60 percent of those who applied for homestead land never completed the requirements to receive a patent to the land. However, their applications have generally been preserved in their case files, and these may contain helpful family information. Grants to states. Approximately 22 percent of the land was granted to the states, who, in turn, may have sold or leased it to individuals. Grants to railroads and others. Twelve percent was granted to railroad companies and others who also may have sold or leased it. Military bounty lands. Seven percent was distributed as military bounty land. Private land claims. Two percent of the land was granted to individuals who could establish prior ownership or had titles previously granted by Spain, Mexico, or France. When new areas were acquired by the United States, special commissions or courts were appointed by the U.S. Congress to resolve these claims and report to Congress. Many claims were presented directly to Congress.

Obtaining the Case Files
The case files are the most helpful records for family history researchers. The files for the donation grants, cash and credit sales, homestead entries, military bounty land, and private land claims are at the National Archives (see the “Archives and Libraries” section of this outline). If you wish to see the records in person, go to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. where you can look at the record and make your own copy.

To obtain photocopies of case files without leaving home, you may write, telephone, or fax:

Textual Reference Branch National Archives and Records Administration 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20408 Telephone: 202-501-5395 Fax: 202-219-6273 Internet: http://www.archives.gov/

Do not send money. Send a letter with the following information: state, land office, type of certificate, certificate number, name of ancestor, and legal description of the land if you can obtain it. The Textual Reference Branch will notify you of the cost.

Most of the case files have not been microfilmed, except for the Oregon and Washington donation lands and some of the private claims files. The Family History Library has copies of most of the records that are on microfilm (see the state research outlines for more information).

Obtaining a Legal Description of the Land
The legal description includes the township and range of the property. If you can also provide the number and date of the patent or final certificate and name of the land office that granted the land, the files can be found more quickly. You may be able to get the legal description from one of the following:

A deed, patent certificate, or similar records in the family's possession. County deed records and plat maps. See “Exchanges of Land between Individuals,” below. In some cases you will also find a reference to the original patent or tract. Tract books. If you know the general location of the land, you can search the tract books to obtain the legal description: United States. Bureau of Land Management. Tract Books. Washington, D.C.: Records Improvement, Bureau of Land Management, 1957. (On 1,265 FHL films starting with 1445277.) The tract books for Alaska and Missouri are missing. Most state archives also have copies for their states.

The original tract books for all public-domain states east of the Mississippi River and the states bordering the Mississippi on the west are at the:

Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office 7450 Boston Boulevard Springfield, VA 22153 Telephone 703-440-1523 Fax: 703-440-1599 Internet: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html

The original books for the other states are at the National Archives branch that serves the state, and copies are at the BLM offices in Anchorage, Phoenix, Sacramento, Denver, Boise, Billings, Reno, Santa Fe, Portland (Oregon), Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne. You can search these records yourself, or the staff at the BLM offices will search the tract books for you for a fee.

Federal plats. These are another source for finding the legal description. They are often referred to as the “township plats.” Most of these are available at the BLM offices above or at the National Archives—Cartographic Branch (see the “Maps” section of this outline). Each state archives may also have microfilm copies for the state. Indexes to the patent books. The patent books are available at the BLM offices, and many state archives have copies. These can provide a legal description of the land, but you need either an accession number from an index, or the legal description to search the books or obtain a photocopy. You may search these records through the government's Land Patent Search.

A few of the patent records are indexed. The BLM Eastern States Office (see address above under tract books) has an index to all patents issued after 30 June 1908. The Family History Library and the Eastern States Office have an incomplete card file that indexes pre-1908 patents issued in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin. These are on 160 microfilms. See:

United States. Bureau of Land Management. Card Files. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Land Management, [19--]. (FHL films 1501522-681.)

The pre-1908 land patents are also being indexed and placed on compact discs for computers. The Family History Library and other repositories have copies for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. They are found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under [STATE] - LAND AND PROPERTY.

Indexes for the same states along with Missouri are available on the Internet. For an information packet, telephone the Bureau of Land Management at 703-440-1564.

The National Archives has a card index to pre-1908 patents issued in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Utah.

Private Land Claims
The original 1789 to 1908 case files of private land claims in parts of 15 states are at the Textual Reference Branch (see address above). The files of some states have been microfilmed and are available at state archives and at the Family History Library.

Many of the applications, petitions, and memorials presented to Congress from 1789 to 1837 have been published and indexed in:

United States Congress. American State Papers, Class 8: Public Lands; Class 9: Claims. Nine Volumes. 1832-1861. Reprint, Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1994. (FHL book 973 R2ag 1994; 1832-1861 edition on films 899878-85.) A combined index to the 1832-1861 edition is: McMullin, Phillip W., editor. Grassroots of America. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gendex Corporation, 1972. (FHL book 973 R2ag index; fiche 6051323.) Indexes to land, pension, bounty land, and other claims presented to Congress from 1789 to 1909 are found in published summaries or digests (tables) at the National Archives and federal repository libraries (at major university libraries). The Family History Library has the alphabetical digests for 1789 to 1871:

United States Congress. House. Digested Summary and Alphabetical List of Private Claims Which Have Been Presented to the House of Representatives. Washington, DC Library of Congress, [19--]. (FHL films 899874-77.)

Published Sources
Some societies, archives, and individuals have transcribed, indexed, and published portions of the federal land records, usually for a state or county. Those at the Library are usually listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the [STATE] - LAND AND PROPERTY, or [STATE], [COUNTY] - LAND AND PROPERTY.