Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of individual documents from Georgia’s original land grant system, the headright and bounty land system for the years 1783 to 1909. The files, filmed at the Georgia State Archives, contain the following types of records relating to the acquisition of a piece of land: The files are generally organized by county and then by record type. The original grant files are arranged alphabetically by name of applicant. Each grant book has an index which usually appears at the beginning of the digital files. This collection is being published as images become available.
 * Headrights which provided the head of a family with a grant of land.
 * Bounty land grants which were awarded by the government as a reward to citizens for the risks and hardships they endured in the service of their country, usually in a military related capacity.
 * Warrant files which may include land plats, although not all transactions included surveys.
 * Vouchers listing the applicant’s status during the Revolutionary War
 * Certificates of eligibility for a land grant
 * Powers of attorney
 * Petitions

General Information About These Records
Georgia was a state-land state. The land was distributed by the provincial and later, state governors of the Colony and later the State of Georgia. After the Revolutionary War, a land act was passed which allowed a man to receive from 200 or more acres of land. Georgia also issued lands to its civilian population who had remained loyal, or at the very least neutral, to the Revolutionary cause after the British restored royal control. Settlers in good standing who owned land at the time of the establishment of the land offices received grants for their land.

Applicants for grants would swear to oaths regarding the size of their families to determine the number of acres granted. A warrant of survey would generally be issued, and the county surveyor would lay out the land. Copies of the survey plats were kept by the county surveyor and Surveyor General. Settlers were required to live on their land for a year and cultivate at least 3 percent of the land. After that time the applicant could apply for a grant.

These records were created to document the processes of receiving land grants from the State of Georgia, including headright land grants and bounties. They generally contain reliable information regarding the location and disposition of land, as well as military service information. Most of the headright and bounty grants issued were for land located east of the Oconee River.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Land
 * Name of grantee
 * Date of land grant
 * Legal description of land
 * Location of the land
 * Number of acres

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual
 * The location or date of the event

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
 * Use the information to find vital records such as birth, christening,marriage and death
 * Search for the family in census records
 * Search for information in county land and probate records
 * Search for church records

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

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Georgia.
 * Georgia Guided Research
 * Georgia Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Georgia Research, 1880-Present

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

FamilySearch Catalog

 * edited with an introduction by Robert Scott Davis, The early settlers of Georgia : A list of the file headings of the loose headright and bounty land grant files in the Georgia Department of Archives and History Milledgeville, Georgia : Boyd Pub. Co., c1997 FS Library 975.8 R2dr
 * Georgia headright and bounty documents, 1783-1909
 * Georgia, headright and bounty land records, 1783-1909
 * Surveyor-General's records, headright surveys
 * Index of plats to colonial and headright grants, 1837-1858
 * Headrights and land grants of Georgia, 1756-1939
 * Georgia, Headright and loose lottery plats
 * Lloyd deWitt Bockstruck. Bounty and donation land grants in British Colonial America Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c2007 FS Library 973 R2bL

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

Georgia, registros de headright y tierras de recompensa (Registros históricos de FamilySearch)