Land record

Contents • 1 VALUE OF LAND RECORDS • 2 DEEDS • 3 VALUE OF LAND DEEDS • 4 COUNTY BOUNDARY CHANGES • 5 SEARCHING DEED INDEXES • 6 WHERE TO FIND LAND DEEDS • 6.1 To find online land records: • 6.2 To find land records at the FamilySearch Library: • 6.3 For counties which have not been microfilmed or are not online: • 7 COLONIAL LAND GRANTS OR PATENTS • 8 METES AND BOUNDS • 9 HEADRIGHT GRANTS • 10 STATE LAND GRANTS • 11 LOCATING STATE LAND PATENTS • 12 PUBLIC OR FEDERAL LAND STATES • 13 LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785 • 14 MILITARY BOUNTY LAND GRANTS • 15 PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS • 16 RECTUANGULAR SURVEY SYSTEM • 17 PUBLIC LAND ACTS • 18 THE VALUE OF A PUBLIC DOMAIN LAND ENTRY • 19 GENERAL LAND OFFICE AND NATIONAL ARCHIVES • 20 TRACT BOOKS • 21 TOWNSHIP PLAT MAPS AND LAND OWNERSHIP MAPS • 22 SUMMARY • 23 WHERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LAND RECORDS • 24 Bibliograpy • 24.1 U.S. RESEARCH – LAND RECORDS – TERMS AND DEFINITIONS VALUE OF LAND RECORDS [ | ] Land records are the earliest, largest, and most complete type of record in the United States beginning when the colonists settled the land to show legal proof of ownership. With the opportunity of expansion west of the colonial states and because of the rural nature of America before 1850, as many as 90% of White men owned land, making the possibility of finding an ancestor in land records very high. • Land records show where an individual lived and the time period he lived there and may include other information such as a person’s age, the name of...

Contents • 1 VALUE OF LAND RECORDS • 2 DEEDS • 3 VALUE OF LAND DEEDS • 4 COUNTY BOUNDARY CHANGES • 5 SEARCHING DEED INDEXES • 6 WHERE TO FIND LAND DEEDS • 6.1 To find online land records: • 6.2 To find land records at the FamilySearch Library: • 6.3 For counties which have not been microfilmed or are not online: • 7 COLONIAL LAND GRANTS OR PATENTS • 8 METES AND BOUNDS • 9 HEADRIGHT GRANTS • 10 STATE LAND GRANTS • 11 LOCATING STATE LAND PATENTS • 12 PUBLIC OR FEDERAL LAND STATES • 13 LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785 • 14 MILITARY BOUNTY LAND GRANTS • 15 PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS • 16 RECTUANGULAR SURVEY SYSTEM • 17 PUBLIC LAND ACTS • 18 THE VALUE OF A PUBLIC DOMAIN LAND ENTRY • 19 GENERAL LAND OFFICE AND NATIONAL ARCHIVES • 20 TRACT BOOKS • 21 TOWNSHIP PLAT MAPS AND LAND OWNERSHIP MAPS • 22 SUMMARY • 23 WHERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LAND RECORDS • 24 Bibliograpy • 24.1 U.S. RESEARCH – LAND RECORDS – TERMS AND DEFINITIONS VALUE OF LAND RECORDS [ | ] Land records are the earliest, largest, and most complete type of record in the United States beginning when the colonists settled the land to show legal proof of ownership. With the opportunity of expansion west of the colonial states and because of the rural nature of America before 1850, as many as 90% of White men owned land, making the possibility of finding an ancestor in land records very high. • Land records show where an individual lived and the time period he lived there and may include other information such as a person’s age, the name of...