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Tennessee,

Maine,

and

West

Virginia.

Upon

annexation

to

the Union, both

Texas

and

Hawaii retained

ownership

of

their

public

lands

and

became

State

Land States. So, twenty U.S. States retained

ownership of their lands and each set up a

General Land Office for the issuing of land grants.

For example, Virginia, as a State Land State, sold

land directly to private individuals. But land in

Michigan, a Public Land State, was sold by the

United States Federal Government.

To locate the earliest land records from the

agency that sold the land, you first need to know

if the land grant was located in a State Land

State or a Public Land State.

Documents

Relating

to

Original

Land

Grants

There are a few definitions needed for words or

phrases you may come across in reading old deeds or

land grants which may give important genealogical clues

about your ancestors. These are documents issued by

the government agency in charge of selling land, each of

the twenty State Land States, or the United States

Federal Government. The origin of these procedures

and documents dates back to England during the 15th

Century and continued in America.

A Warrant

This was the first

document

in

the

land

grant

process. A warrant

authorizes a tract

of land to be set

aside for a land

grant or sale. It

may describe the

land

in

general

terms, such as "200 acres of land West of the New

River". A governmental agency issued a warrant, e.g.,

the

King

of

England,

the

Commonwealth

of

Massachusetts, the Proprietor of Maryland, the State of

Connecticut, or the United States Federal Government if

the land were located in one of the thirty Public Land

States after 1787.

Warrants are records that can confirm that your ancestor

did indeed receive a land grant, it is the first document in

what may be several records relating to a land grant to a

private party.

Warrants were issued by Colonial, State, and Federal

Governments as payment to soldiers for service in

various wars, including the Colonial Wars of the 18th

Century, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812.

These "bounty-land" warrants indicated a certain number

of acres of land without describing the land precisely.

The warrant certificate had a cash value based on the

location of the land and the number of acres involved.

Warrants could be assigned (sold) to someone other

than the person granted the warrant before the land was

surveyed.

Survey

After a warrant was issued a survey of the land was

conducted,

and

defines

the

exact

location

and

boundaries of the land grant authorized in the warrant.

Before

the

land

grant

could

be

possessed,

the

boundaries of the land had to be marked on the ground.

A survey might include a map or description of the

boundaries of the land, and the government's surveyor

may have written a statement that he had followed the

provisions of the warrant.

The survey document might include the names of the

surveyor's assistants or "sworn chain bearers", who

were often chosen because they lived next door to the

property being surveyed. As a result, survey records

often reveal genealogical clues to the neighbors of your

ancestor, and assist in locating the land exactly.

Patent

The final document was the title certificate that was

issued to a person granted or sold land -- the first private

owner

of

land.

The

patent

was

issued

by

the

governmental agency that originally owned the land.

Reference to a "patent" indicates the person holds an

"original entry of land".

Land Patents Today

The keeper of any

surviving

land

warrants, surveys, or

patents today is the

issuing government

agency.

For

example,

if

you

know your ancestor

received a colonial

land grant in North Carolina (a State Land State), any

surviving warrants, surveys, or patents are held by the

State of North Carolina and are located at the North

Carolina State Archives. Or, if you think your ancestor

obtained a land grant in Indiana (a Public Land State),

the keeper of the warrants, surveys, and patents is the

United States Government. U.S. Public Land Records

today are under the care of the Bureau of Land