Land and Property

What Land and Property Records Are

• Land records and property records are primarily used to learn when and where an individual lived.
• Land records reveal other family information, such as the name of a spouse, heir, other relatives, or neighbors.
• Assists in learning where a person lived previously, his or her occupation, if he or she was a naturalized citizen, and other clues for further research.

Information in the Land and Property Records

Genealogical Value

• These records may reveal where and when your ancestor lived and where they previously lived.
• Often, family relationships and information may be stated or inferred such as the names of spouses, children, heirs, other relatives, and neighbors.
• The occupation and social status of an individual may be determined.
• It is not uncommon to trace multi-generations in land records.

Land and Property Records by Country

• See Category:Land and Property for country Land and Property articles.

Strategies for Using Land and Property Records

• Recognize that it may take time to navigate and locate them.
• Land records exist in cases in which other record types didn’t. This is because the line of ownership has to be proven.
• Names of neighboring property owners and witnesses might provide clues to other relatives.
• The transaction might have been recorded at a much later date. This is especially true if the land remained in the family. Selling to a non-family member may have prompted the recording of the title decades after the initial owner died.
• Remember that land may be in a different jurisdictions (aka counties) in different years as county boundaries changed and new counties were formed.
• Notice if there is a record of the person selling land but no record of the purchase. This can be a clue that 1) the land was acquired by inheritance, or 2) the land was acquired from the state or federal government (which means that a higher jurisdiction needs to be considered.)
• Plat each transaction. This may reveal additional acquisitions or divisions between transactions and identify mixed jurisdictions. It may also allow you to analyze what is happening to neighboring properties.

Women and Land Records

Finding a female ancestor in land records can be more challenging because of property laws in earlier time periods. It is more likely to find your female ancestor in records of her husband’s property being sold. The wife often was examined separately because of laws pertaining to her “dower right.” (This term is NOT an indication that she brought land into the marriage, but rather it is related to her right to use of land following her husband’s death.) Therefore, look for her husband’s name in the grantor/direct (seller) index, then search in the related entry.

Land Records Indexes

Land indexes only list the names of the grantor/direct (seller) and grantee/indirect (buyer). Therefore, search the indexes for names of other relatives and neighbors to assist you in finding a land record in which your ancestor might be named.