Florida, Spanish Land Grants - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Florida

What Is in the Collection?
The collection, Florida Spanish Land Grants, 1821–1822, contains maps and property records associated with the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States in 1821. Spanish rulers granted settlers areas of land in Florida to encourage settlement. As part of the treaty that transferred Florida to the United States, the United States agreed to honor all Spanish Land Grants. In 1822, the Board of Land Commissioners was established to verify titles and claims to land in East and West Florida. The board confirmed or rejected these claims, as claimants had to prove their ownership. The records are in folders containing one or more papers related to a person or families claim to a tract of land. Supporting documents in the folders may include petitions or memorials to a governor for land; survey or plats; attests; deeds of sale, gifts wills bequests, and exchanges; applications; and translations of Spanish documents (not all documents were translated). Claimants had to provide a description of land granted; date of grant; size of grant; property boundaries; and proof of residency and cultivation. Therefore, these records may contain surveys and plats, copies of royal grants, testimonials, correspondence, deeds, wills, and translations of Spanish documents. Many grants conflict and overlap with each other, so not all information is accurate. Some surveys were not verified. The original records are located at the State Archives of Florida in Tallahassee.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information is found in these records:
 * Primary owners name
 * Second owners name
 * Geographic location of the property
 * Date of Grant or filing
 * Status of the claim (confirmed or unconfirmed)

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name
 * General location

View the Images
You can browse through the images in this collection at the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory website: Spanish Land Grants Browse

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

I Found Who I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later. You may also wish to view the original record.  These records are available on the Florida Memory State Library & Archives Spanish Land Grants Collection Browse Page.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional land records that might have more information.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to determine an approximate birth date to find church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find immigration and probate records.
 * Use the information in each record to find additional family members in the censuses. There may be clues to maiden names if a father deeded property to his daughter upon marriage. Witnesses and neighbors may be in-laws or relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family member’s records to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. You could browse through the original record collection at the Florida Memory State Library & Archives Spanish Land Grants Collection Browse Page which may help you find who you are looking for or provide additional leads.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Related Digital Books
Spanish land grants in Florida : briefed translations from the archives of the Board of Commissioners for ascertaining claims and titles to land in the territory of Florida

Citing This Collection
Citing sources correctly makes it easier to refer to information which has already been found, so proper citations are key to keeping track of research. Correct citations also allow others to check completed research by helping them find and examine records for themselves. Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records and images within it:
 * Collection Citation:

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