United States Military Bounty Land Warrants
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Online Resources
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Bounty Land Warrants
The federal government provided bounty land for those who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and Indian wars between 1775 and 1855. It was first offered as an incentive to serve in the military and later as a reward for service.
Bounty land could have been claimed by veterans or their heirs. The federal government reserved tracts of land in the public domain for this purpose. The states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia also set aside tracts of bounty land for their Revolutionary War veterans.
A veteran requested bounty land by filing an application at a local courthouse. The application papers and other supporting documents were placed in bounty land files kept by a federal or state agency. These documents contain information similar to the pension files and include the veteran’s age and place of residence at the time of the application. If the application was approved, the individual was given either a warrant to receive land or scrip which could be exchanged for a warrant. Later laws allowed for the sale or exchange of warrants. Only a few soldiers actually received title to the bounty land or settled on it; most veterans sold or exchanged their warrants.
- United States. National Archives and Records Service, Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 2000). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 973 A3usn. See chapter 8.
- E. Wade Hone, Land and Property Research in the United States (Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry, 1997). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 973 R27h. See chapter 9, pages 115–26.
- James W. Oberly. Sixty Million Acres. American Veterans and the Public Lands before the Civil War Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1990. FS Library Book 973 N2ob
- Claire Kluskens. Bounty Land Warrant Application Files NGS Magazine 49 #3 (July-September 2023): 14-18.
- Susan Goss Johnston, An Underutilized Treasure: Bounty Land Warrant Applications" NGS Magazine 46 #2 (April-June 2020): 18-24
Bounty Land Warrant Application Files
Bounty land warrant application files at the National Archives relate to claims based on wartime service between 1775 and March 3, 1855. If your ancestor served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, early Indian Wars, or the Mexican War, a search of these records may be worthwhile. Bounty land records often contain documents similar to those in pension files, with lots of genealogical information. Many of the bounty land application files relating to Revolutionary War and War of 1812 service have been combined with the pension files.
Copies of Bounty Land Warrant Applications for Federal military service before 1856 can now be ordered online, as well as through NATF Form 85. Select "Order Reproductions" and then select "Military Service and Pension Records".
Categories of pension/bounty land files available using NATF Form 85:
- A complete Civil War and later pension application file (up to 100 pages), based on Federal (not State or Confederate) military service during the Civil War or later (includes the Pension Documents Packet.)
- A complete Federal pre-Civil War military pension application based on Federal military service before 1861 (includes the Pension Documents Packet.)
- A pension document packet that contains reproductions of eight documents containing genealogical information about the pension applicant, to the extent these documents are present in the file.
- A complete military bounty land application file based on service 1775-1855 (includes only rejected Revolutionary War applications).
Reading the Index Card
- War of 1812 Pension Index Card
Example: 10,649 - 40 - 55
- First number: application number
- Second number: number of acres (a soldier could get up to 160 acres for his service)
- Third number: Congress act granting bounty land - Act of 1850 or Act of 1855
Related National Archives Collections
- United States, National Archives, Military Bounty Land Warrant Records NARA Finding Aid includes records of the Acts of 1847-55 and selected records from RG 49 & 15
- Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, ca. 1800–ca. 1900
- Case Files of Bounty-Land Warrant Applications of Indians Based on Service Between 1812 and 1855, ca. 1812 - ca. 1900. NAID 160913340
- Registers of Bounty-Land Claims Filed and Warrants Issued, ca. 1800 - 1912. NAID 2601043
- Records Relating to Pensions and Bounty-Land Warrants, 1813 - 1875. NAID 2601046
- Incomplete List of Bounty-Land Warrants Issued, ca. 1800 - 1900. NAID 2601041
- Stubs and Duplicates of Bounty-Land Warrant Certificates and Scrip Certificates, 1803 - 1897. NAID 2601044
- Register of Bounty-Land Warrants Issued, 1851 - 1856. NAID 18253474
- Register of Patent Locations of Land in Illinois to Soldiers of War of 1812 Patents, October 6, 1817–January 28, 1819
- Alphabetical Index to Veterans of War of 1812 to Whom Patents Were Issued for Land in Military Bounty Land District in Illinois, ca. 1815–ca. 1870
- Warrants Issued Under Act of September 28, 1850., ca. 1850–ca. 1900
- Index of Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1812 Located in Missouri, 1815 ?–1858 ?
- Military Bounty Land Warrants under the Act of 1812, 1815 ?–1858 ?
- Index to Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1842, 1842 ?–1858 ?
- Index of Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1812 Located in Arkansas, 1815 ?–1858 ?
- Letters Received Concerning Military Bounty Land Warrants Destroyed in the Fire of 1814, May 12, 1833–January 12, 1882
- Registers of Bounty Land and Pension Cases Certified to the Commissioner of Pensions, August 7, 1875–August 10, 1879
- Department of the Treasury. Settled Claim Files and Related Records, August 10, 1816–December 5, 1854. (Commission to Adjudicate Claims Arising Out of the War of 1812 New York)
Canada
- Canadian Refugee Warrants, ca. 1802–1811 NAID 7541310
- Records of Locations of Land by Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugees, 1802–1811 NAID 23932870
- Register of Certificates for Patents Issued to Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugees, 1802–1811 NAID 23932871
FamilySearch Catalog
| Locality | Collection |
|---|---|
| United States | War of 1812, military bounty land warrants, 1815-1858 |
| Indiana | Clark County, Board of Commissioners. Minutes for apportioning the lands granted to the Illinois Regiment, 1785-1820 |
| Maine | Revolutionary War bounty land applications, 1835-1838 |
| Massachusetts | Revolutionary War bounty land applications, 1805-1845 |
| Ohio | U.S. Revolutionary War bounty land warrants used in the U.S. military district of Ohio and related papers, acts of 1788, 1803, 1806 |
| Ohio | Auditor of State. Virginia Military District lands of Ohio ; indexes |
| Virginia | Land Office. Military warrants, nos. 1-1320, 1328-5020, 8780-9969 : August 8, 1782-September 21, 1889 |
| Virginia | Office of the Governor. Bounty warrants, 1779-1860 |
| Virginia | Land Office. Military certificates, nos. 1-9926 : July 14, 1782-August 5, 1876 |
| Virginia | Land Office. Military certificates, A-Z : July 14, 1782-August 5, 1876 |
| Virginia | Land Office. Register of military certificates located in Ohio and Kentucky, nos. 1-6899, 8701-8850 |
| Virginia | Land Office. List of military land bounty warrants : September 1, 1833-September 1, 1834 |
| Virginia | Register, bounty land warrants, nos. 5479-9914 : March 30, 1808-March 11, 1870 |
| Virginia | Rockingham County, Land grants, Revolutionary War, 1783-1832 |
| Colorado | US General Land Office, Denver, military bounty land warrants, 1863-1900 |
| Colorado | US General Land Office, Durango, military bounty land warrants, 1890-1897 |
| Colorado | US General Land Office, Hugo, military bounty land warrants, 1890-1898 |
| Colorado | US General Land Office, La Plata County, military bounty land warrants, 1890-1897 |
| Colorado | US General Land Office, Lincoln County, military bounty land warrants, 1890-1898 |
| New Mexico | US General Land Office, Santa Fe County, military bounty land warrants, 1870-1871 |
| Wyoming | Laramie County, military bounty land records, 1876-1890 |
Other Resources
Bounty land applications and warrants for the Revolutionary War and some warrants for the War of 1812 have been microfilmed. They are available at the FamilySearch Library and are described in this set of Wiki pages for those wars. For more information about bounty land records, the following sources will be helpful:
- Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants : Awarded by State Governments (Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Pub., 2006). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 973 R2bo.
- United States. National Archives and Records Service, Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 2000). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 973 A3usn. See chapter 8.
- E. Wade Hone, Land and Property Research in the United States (Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry, 1997). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 973 R27h. See chapter 9, pages 115–26.
- Claire Kluskens. Bounty Land Warrant Application Files NGS Magazine 49 #3 (July-September 2023): 14-18.
- Charles Lofland. A list of all the entries in the Virginia Military District : and also, all the entries in the United States Military District of 100 acre lots, located since the first commencement for locating warrants for military services, to the present year [Columbus, Ohio] : P.H. Olmsted, 1821FS Library Digital Images
- James W. Oberly. Sixty Million Acres. American Veterans and the Public Lands before the Civil War Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1990. FS Library Book 973 N2ob
- A.B. Pruitt, Tennessee land entries military bounty land (1783-1841) 7 vols. Whitakers, North Carolina: A.B. Pruitt, 1997 FS Library 976.8 R2pa
- Christine Rose. Military Bounty Land. San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2011. FS Library Book 973 M27r
- Clifford Neal Smith. Federal land series : a calendar of archival materials on the land patents issued by the United States government, with subject, tract, and name indexes 4 volumes. Chicago, Illinois : American Library Association, 1972- FS Library Book 973 973 R2scn
- Virginia Continental Army lands, February 15, 1822 : roll of officers of the sixteen Virginia regiments of the Continental Army who received land bounty in the Virginia Military Districts in the states of Ohio and Kentucky Microfilm of typescript at the state library in Richmond, Virginia. FS Library DGS 8736944
- Samuel W. Wilson, Catalogue of Revolutionary soldiers and sailors of the Commonwealth of Virginia : to whom land bounty warrants were granted by Virginia for military services: compiled by Samuel M. Wilson from official records in the Kentucky State Land Office at Frankfort, Kentucky Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1954 FS Library 976.9 R28w
Bounty Land Warrants by Conflict
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- Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783
- War of 1812, 1812 to 1815
- Mexican War, 1846 to 1848
- Mormon Battalion Bounty Land Application Files - National Archives Catalog
- Indian Wars, 1780's-1890's
See also
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