Missouri Land and Property

Claims to French and Spanish Grants
In the early 1800s many land claims were filed as Missouri residents tried to document claims to lands previously granted by the French and Spanish. In 1805, the U.S. Congress established a Board of Commissioners to confirm earlier grants.

Some of these records have been published in sources such as the American State Papers. An index to the claims made from 1795 to 1812 is on FHL film 984777. The names in the American State Papers (on microfilm at the Family History Library) have also been published in:

McMullin, Phillip, ed. Grassroots of America. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gendex Co., 1972. (FHL book 973 R2ag index; fiche 6051323.)

First Settlers of the Missouri Territory. Two Volumes. Nacogdoches, Texas: Ericson Books, 1983. (FHL book 977.8 R2f.)

Land claims have been explained and documented in:

"Private Land Claims in Missouri", in State Historical Society of Missouri; Missouri Historical Review. Columbia, Missouri: The Society; Vol. 50, p. 132-44. (FHL book 977.8 B2mr.)

Missouri Land Claims. New Orleans, Louisiana: Polyanthos, 1976. (FHL book 977.8 R2m; film 1036517 item 2.) This volume is a reprint of the 1835 Congressional Report, and has land claims for 1796-1835.

Federal Land Grants
After the United States obtained possession of the area that became Missouri, land was surveyed and distributed through eight federal land offices, the earliest of which opened in 1818. The General Land Office in Washington, DC, also distributed many of the state's public domain lands between 1818 and 1922. This process has been explained in Gary W. Beahan, Missouri's Public Domain: United States Land Sales, 1818-1922 (Jefferson City, Missouri: Records Management and Archives Services, 1980; FHL book 977.8 R2mi).

Records of the local land offices are in the Missouri State Archives. Tract books, plat maps, and land patents are in:

Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office 7450 Boston Boulevard Springfield, VA 22153 Telephone: 703-440-1600 Fax: 703-440-1609 Internet: http://www.es.blm.gov/aboutus/phonebook/whereweare.php

War of 1812 bounty land warrants were also issued for Missouri lands. The Family History Library has copies of the warrants and their indexes (FHL films 983163-77). Homestead records for the 1860s and later years are at the National Archives.

Many additional documents dealing with early land transfers are available at the Family History Library:


 * Record books, 1795 to 1808
 * U.S. land patents, 1800s to early 1900s
 * Tax deeds, 1847 to 1878
 * Miscellaneous land records in French, Spanish, and English, 1700s to 1800s
 * Swamp land records for the 1800s
 * Land plats and index for the 1800s
 * General Land Office sales, 1818 to 1903

County Land Records
After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions have been kept by the county recorders of deeds. The Family History Library has copies of most pre-1900 deeds from each county courthouse. From St. Louis County, Missouri, for example, the library has over 900 microfilms of deeds and indexes for 1804 to 1901. Additional land records may be obtained from the Missouri State Archives and the various county courthouses.

Web Sites
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/citations.asp

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/land/

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/county/croll.asp

http://www.archives.gov/