Land Patent Search

Land patents from 1788 to the 1960s show information about people who obtained the title to their land directly from the government (rather than from another individual). This includes land obtained through military bounty land warrants, land grants, cash entry sales, credit entries, homesteads, mineral or mining, and timberland claims.

An index (Land Patent Search) to several million federal land patent records is available online at the Bureau of Land Management – General Land Office Records (BLM-GLO) site at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

= Value of Land Records =

Land records were created by the government to prevent or help resolve ownership disputes. They can be used by genealogists to determine residence. If the land was later passed to relatives, you may be able to use wills or deeds showing the transfer as evidence of personal relationships. In some cases the patent application papers contain genealogical information.

Patents show the name of the patentee, date, legal description of the land, patent number, and the land office that issued the patent. This information can be used to obtain land patent application papers. It may also help you locate papers showing the subsequent disposal of the land.

Application papers for federal land patents may have detailed information about family members and previous residence as shown in dozens of papers including land application forms, citizenship applications, Family Bible pages, marriage or death certificates, newspaper clippings, and affidavits.

= Value of the BLM-GLO Land Patent Search =

The Land Patent Search is an index to millions of ancestors in federal land patents from 1788 to the 1960s at the National Archives. Start with this index to get the information needed to obtain the applications for land patents which may be a rich source of genealogical information about a family. The same Internet site also provides access to images of patents for the eastern federal land states.

= Jurisdictions =



The thirteen original colonies and their five daughter states (Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee) are considered state land states. Texas and Hawaii have unique histories and are also state land states. The remaining thirty western states are federal land states. The online BLM-GLO Land Patent Search is primarily for goverment-to-individual land conveyances in federal land states west and south of the original thirteen colonies.

Land transfers from a state land state to an individual, or later transfers from individual to individual in any state are found in their respective state or county land offices and are not part of the BLM-GLO Land Patent Search.

A separate Texas General Land Office online Land Grant Database search is available at http://wwwdb.glo.state.tx.us/central/LandGrants/LandGrantsSearch.cfm

= Who Is in the Land Patent Search =

The BLM-GLO Land Patent Search index only lists people who were actually granted a federal land patent. All military bounty land, grants, cash, pre-emption, and credit entry patents should be indexed. Among homesteaders only about 40 percent of initial applicants finished the process and received a legal title (patent) to their homestead. Among timberland applicants only about 25 percent received their patent.

Homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are NOT in the Land Patent Search, but they ARE in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications. However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead.

= Using the Land Patent Search =

Open the Land Patent Search on the Internet at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/. You may be asked to enter your zip code. When the site opens, select either the Basic or Standard search. The Standard search allows the option to select –ALL STATES– in the State: field. Enter the patentee’s last name and first name, and click the Search button at the bottom.

If the results list is too long redo the search with an added name, state, county, or other detail.

If the results list is too short redo the search and try these:


 * Delete a name, state (change to ALL STATES), county, or other detail. The fewer the search parameters, the larger the search will be.
 * Search using wildcard symbols in the names: % = multiple wild card characters; _ = a single wildcard character.
 * Look for a spelling variation of the patentee’s name. For ideas see Guessing a Name Variation.

If an ancestor is on the results list click the ancestor’s name, click the Printer Friendly icon, and click the Print icon. In many cases you can also view an image of the patent.

To obtain the patent application papers (case files) follow the instructions called “National Archives and Records Administration Land Entry Case Files” on the Internet at http//:www.glorecords.blm.gov/Visitors/Requests.asp#nara

= Related Content =

United States Land and Property

Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records Home Page

Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records Land Patent Search

Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search

Constance Potter “Genealogy Notes: De Smet, Dakota Territory, Little Town in the National Archives, Part 2” Prologue (Winter 2003), 35:4 at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/little-town-in-nara-2.html

15 Minutes of Family History