Land Records and Maps
Land records include information that can locate an individual in a specific place at a specific time. There are many different types of land records depending on how and where land was acquired.
Deeds are the most common type of land record. They have been issued in
all periods of American history. Deeds may include information on family relationships,
dower rights, and slave ownership.
Millions of land grants and patents were
issued by the federal government and by the original thirteen colonies and
several states. Records of land grants include application files and the
patents themselves. Homestead files contain much family information and may
also include
naturalization papers. Before July 4, 1836, the president of the United States
signed land patents. After July 4, 1836 the president was authorized by Congress
to appoint a secretary to sign the president's name on patents.
Bounty
lands were
offered to veterans in lieu of pay for services. Although many soldiers
claimed their land they often sold it and never settled on it.
Applications for federal land grants and patents, including bounty land patents
and homestead records, are available from the National Archives. Request
form NATF 84 for a search in land records.
Kansas is a public-domain state, meaning the federal government sold or
gave away Kansas land. The transfer of land from the federal government to the
first private owner (by purchase, homestead, timber claim or land bounty) is
described in the Kansas Tract Books. These books list land by legal description
(township and range). They include a description of the tract, the number of
acres, the rate (price) per acre if applicable, the purchase amount if applicable,
the name of the purchaser (grantee), the date of sale, etc. The tract books are
on microfilm. The finding aid Kansas Tract Books on the Kansas reference
shelf describes the tract books. It includes a list of microfilm reels.
Subsequent land transactions are recorded in the Register of Deeds Office in
each county. KSHS Library & Archives division collections include microfilm
copies of some deed records for some Kansas counties. These records are listed
in
the local records card catalog and in local records finding aids. The reference
staff is happy to help patrons locate these records. Staff can also direct
patrons to register of deeds offices in counties for which we have no records.
The federal government granted a significant amount of Kansas land to various railroad companies to encourage railroad expansion. The railroad companies in turn sold much of this land to private individuals. Land-sales records of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company and the Kansas Town & Land Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, are in manuscript collections. AT&SF land-sales records include the name of the purchaser and terms of sale. They are arranged by contract number and are indexed by range and township. The Records of the Kansas Town & Land Company are arranged by town. A narrative finding aid is available in the reference room.
Other sources of land ownership information in Library & Archives division collections include county
atlases. Atlases contain plat maps of townships that show owners of individual parcels of land. These atlases date from about the 1880s to the 1920s. Kansas atlases are listed in the finding aid Kansas Atlases, Town & County Histories, and Index to County Histories in Andreas' History of Kansas. Collections also include atlases for states other than Kansas. These are described in the general card catalog.
Original maps
showing land ownership are listed in the map card catalog. Maps are cataloged by subject and chronologically thereunder. Manuscript collections include a small collection of individual land patents. These are described in the manuscripts card catalog.
The reference staff is happy to help patrons locate these and other land records
and sources in the collections.
Federal Land Records
The National Archives in Washington, D.C.
has custody of the land entry files for Federal public domain states and the
central office tract books for western
public domain states. These records originated with the U.S. General Land Office
and are now among Record Group 49, Records of the Bureau of Land Management.
Federal land records document only the first transfer of land from the United
States to another party. Records of later land transactions may be found in county
or state records. There are federal land records for all states except the original
thirteen states, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, West Virginia, Texas, and
Hawaii. These states were never part of the Federal public domain.
Most land entry files for the years 1800-1908 are arranged by state, land office, type of land entry (such as cash, homestead, timber, etc.), and land entry file number (such as a Homestead final certificate number). For the pre-1908 land entry files there are name indexes for Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Utah. For the other public domain states west of the Mississippi River (excluding Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota) land entry files can be located by the researcher providing the name of the State and either a legal description of the land (section, township, range) or the name of the land office, type of land entry, and land entry file number. For the public domain states east of the Mississippi (as well as Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota), the researcher must provide the name of the State, and the name of the land office, type of land entry, and land entry file number. This information can normally be obtained from the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) by providing the BLM with a legal description of the land (section, township, range). The
BLM has computerized some of this information. The BLM address is: Eastern States Office, Bureau of Land Management, 7450 Boston Blvd, Springfield VA 22153.
The post-1908 land entry files are arranged numerically by patent number. There are name indexes for these records.
Military bounty land warrants are arranged by act of Congress, certificate
number, and, for warrants under the acts of 1847-1855, by the number of acres
granted. There are indexes for the Revolutionary War and most of the War of
1812 warrants but not for the warrants under the acts of 1847-1855. To obtain
the filing information for these warrants, use form
NATF 85 to request a search
of bounty land warrant applications
among the military service records in Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans
Administration. Once you have obtained the bounty land warrant filing information
you may use it to request copies of the surrendered warrant in Record Group
49. However, the applications for bounty land warrants contain more information
useful to the genealogist than do the surrendered warrants.
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