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Tract Books: Difference between revisions
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==== Why genealogists use them ==== | ==== Why genealogists use them ==== | ||
Federal tract books show details about when and where an ancestor first obtained land from the '''federal '''government. Tract books provide information to help find further federal (case files) and local land ownership records (deeds) which sometimes hold clues about an ancestor's residence and family members. Also, after finding where an ancestor lived, a researcher can search for a variety of non-land records of the ancestor in that area. Tract books also can be used to find information about neighbors—people who sometimes turn out to be relatives. Tract books even show when an ancestor applied for federal land but failed to obtain it. | Federal tract books show details about when and where an ancestor first obtained land from the '''federal '''government. Tract books provide information to help find further federal (case files) and local land ownership records (deeds) which sometimes hold clues about an ancestor's residence and family members. Also, after finding where an ancestor lived, a researcher can search for a variety of non-land records of the ancestor in that area. Tract books also can be used to find information about neighbors—people who sometimes turn out to be relatives. Tract books even show when an ancestor applied for federal land but failed to obtain it. | ||
==== Tract books lead to case files ==== | ==== Tract books lead to case files ==== | ||
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Additional items of information included in the tract books are as follows: number of acres, date of sale, purchase price, land office, entry number, final Certificate of Purchase number, and notes on relinquishments and conversions. | Additional items of information included in the tract books are as follows: number of acres, date of sale, purchase price, land office, entry number, final Certificate of Purchase number, and notes on relinquishments and conversions. | ||
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[[Image:{{tractbks}}]] | [[Image:{{tractbks}}]] | ||
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Because of homestead laws, a higher percentage of the land owning population in the Great Plains states after 1862 are likely to be in tract books than in other western states. On the other hand, it is likely mining and mineral rights claims in tract books would be more common in the Mountain West states. | Because of homestead laws, a higher percentage of the land owning population in the Great Plains states after 1862 are likely to be in tract books than in other western states. On the other hand, it is likely mining and mineral rights claims in tract books would be more common in the Mountain West states. | ||
There are over ten million land entry case files (applications) in the National Archives most of which would have a corresponding entry in a tract book. About eight million land patents have been indexed in the BLM [[Land Patent Search]] for successfully completed federal land applications. This suggests about two million applications were left unfinished or were rejected—the best remaining access point to such unpatented case files is through page-by-page tract book searches. | There are over ten million land entry case files (applications) in the National Archives most of which would have a corresponding entry in a tract book. About eight million land patents have been indexed in the BLM [[Land Patent Search]] for successfully completed federal land applications. This suggests about two million applications were left unfinished or were rejected—the best remaining access point to such unpatented case files is through page-by-page tract book searches. | ||
=== Arrangement === | === Arrangement === | ||
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{{U.S. Land and Property}} | {{U.S. Land and Property}} | ||
[[Category:United_States_Land_and_Property]] </div> {{-}} | |||
[[Category:United_States_Land_and_Property]] | |||