Mississippi Land and Property

Online Resources

 * 1820-1951 Mississippi, U.S., State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951 at Ancestry index & images ($)
 * Mississippi, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 Abstracts ($)
 * Land Claims in Mississippi Territory, 1789-1834 Abstracts ($)
 * Spanish and British Land Grants in Mississippi Territory, 1750-1784 Book ($)
 * 1820-1908 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only
 * Land Patents - Mississippi($), index
 * Bureau of Land Management Land Patents, index

Pre-territorial settlers acquired their land from France, Great Britain, and Spain. When Mississippi became a United States territory, there were many disputes over the earlier land claims. The records created in resolving these land disputes are found in the American State Papers, Class 8 and 9, which are on microfilm at the FamilySearch Library. Lists of the names in these papers are in:


 * McMullin, Phillip, ed. Grassroots of America. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gendex Corporation, 1972..


 * First Settlers of the Mississippi Territory. Nacogdoches, Texas: Ericson Books, n.d..

Names of early settlers are also in the Natchez Court Records described in Mississippi Court Records. Natchitoches Colonials by Elizabeth Shown Mills identifies many early settlers:.

Mississippi then became a public-domain state in which land was distributed through U.S. general land offices (the earliest of which opened in 1807), and several state land offices (which opened in 1892).

The Bureau of Land Management has an online index to land patents in Mississippi. The patent search usually provides a digital image of the original patent.

Federal land case files are kept in the National Archives. Patents and copies of tract books and township plats are at:

Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office 7450 Boston Boulevard Springfield, VA 22153 Telephone: 703-440-1600 Fax: 703-440-1599

The Bureau of Land Management has an index and digital images of the original survey plats for Mississippi. The original survey creates land boundaries and marks them for the first time.

These federal files are indexed on FamilySearch Library compact disc no. 9 pt. 255. Territorial and state land records are at the Mississippi Land Commissioner's office in Jackson.

The FamilySearch Library has copies of Mississippi territorial land and court records for the years 1798 to 1817. These are arranged alphabetically by surname.

After the original title to the land was granted, deeds, mortgages, and subsequent transactions have been recorded in county offices. In Mississippi, county land records have been kept by the chancery court since the creation of each county. The FamilySearch Library has many county land records. For example, from Adams County, the library has deeds (1780-1886), deed indexes (1798-1899), and original Spanish records (1781-96). Additional county land records can be obtained from the various county courthouses.