United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of canceled and relinquished case files of land entries that progressed from an application to an allowed entry, but were later canceled by the General Land Office (GLO) in Washington D.C., or relinquished by the entryman from 1861-1932. Application files could be for homesteads, mining claims or land preemptions. A file may contain the original entry application, correspondence between the officials of the district (local) land offices, receipts for fees paid, public notices, affidavits and witness statements, proof of military service, the entryman’s (a settler or person making a land claim) naturalization records, and documents concerning the cancelation or relinquishment of the entry.

The initial point of contact between a settler and the government was a district land office. A District Land Office was staffed by a Register and a Receiver. The Register was responsible for land entry papers until they were sent to the GLO, and for maintaining the tract and register books and other records relating to claims. The Receiver handled the money involved in land claims.

A person wanting to make an entry of any type went to the Register of the local land office and filed his claim upon the public domain (available public lands). Some types of claims, such as cash entries, were settled quickly; other claims required several proofs over time. When all the legal requirements for title to the claimed land had been satisfied, a final certificate was issued by the Register to the entryman, and all papers regarding the claim were sent to the GLO. If all the was found to be in order a patent (title) was prepared and sent to the Register for delivery to the entryman. Case files where a final certificate or title was issued were removed by the land office and sent to the GLO.

Local Land Offices included in this Collection are shown in the Coverage Table below.

 Related Publications 
 * Kenneth Hawkins, comp.  Research in Land Entry Files of the General Land Office. NARA Reference Information Paper 114
 * Roberta King. Homestead records: Cancelled, contested, and relinquished entries. NGS Magazine 34 #1 (January-March, 2008): 46-49.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * Name of applicant
 * Date
 * Description and location of land

Coverage Table
This table lists the land offices included in this collection. The link in the NAID column will open a new window where you can see the National Archives Catalog record for that item.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the applicant
 * The approximate date of application

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. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * If available, check the image for additional information
 * Analyze the entry to see if it provides additional clues to find other records of the person or their family

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

 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Try searching by surname only
 * Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the United States.
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * United States Research Tips and Strategies

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * E. Wade Hone, Land & property research in the United States Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry Publishing, c1997 FS Library 973 R27h
 * Kansas, Ford County, land entry case files, 1894-1919
 * Shawnee County, land entry case files, 1861-1925
 * Nebraska. Box Butte County, land entry case files, 1908-1932
 * Nebraska. Cherry County, land entry case files, 1909-1918
 * Nebraska, Custer County, land entry case files, 1906-1921
 * Nebraska, Holt County, land entry case files, 1900-1914
 * Nebraska, Lancaster County, land entry case files, 1905-1920
 * Nebraska, Lincoln County, land entry case files, 1902-1922

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Manual of surveying instructions : for the survey of public lands of the United States and private land claims Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office (United States), 1894
 * compiled by Harry P. Yoshpe and Philip P. Brower, Preliminary inventory of the land-entry papers of the general land office Washington, D.C. : s. n., 1949

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Estados Unidos, Arquivos de Casos de Inscrições de Terras Cancelados, Renunciados ou Rejeitados (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch