Ohio Land and Property: Difference between revisions

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*'''1863-1908''' [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60593 U.S., Homestead Records, 1863-1908] at Ancestry - index and images ($)

Land in Ohio was transferred to private ownership by state and federal land grants. This was the first public domain land ever made available for private ownership. The rectangular land survey system (section, township, and range), established by the [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1472 Land Ordinance of 1785], was first applied to federal land grants in Ohio.  

*[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Donation_Tract '''Donation Tract''']. One hundred-acre parcels were offered to legal-age males who would occupy the land immediately, thus becoming a buffer between the Indians and those settling on the Ohio Company Purchases. Deeds were issued by the Ohio Company of Associates until 1818, when the Marietta Land Office obtained jurisdiction of unclaimed lands.

*'''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Symmes_Purchase Symmes Purchase]''' or '''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Miami_Purchase Miami Purchase]'''. Purchased partly with military bounty land warrants, the survey for this land was done privately and does not conform to the United States rectangular survey system. Symmes and many of the first settlers in this area came from New Jersey or had ties to New Jersey.

*'''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/United_States_Military_District United States Military District]'''. Ohio land was granted to soldiers from any state who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The tracts were 4,000 acres each, yet military bounty land warrants allowed between 100 acres for a soldier and 1,100 acres for a major general. Since few people could buy the remaining thousands of acres, some pooled warrants and subdivided their tract among themselves. Others sold their warrants to land speculators.

*'''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/French_Grant French Grant]'''. Lands were granted to 101 Frenchmen who bought land by the Scioto Land Company, which had no land to sell legally.

*'''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Refugee_Tract Refugee Tract]'''. Lands were granted to refugees from Canada who came to the Colonies before 4 July 1776 and who aided the cause of the Colonies during the Revolutionary War.

*'''[https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Congress_Lands Congress Lands]'''. Tracts of 320 acres were purchased by individuals. Because buyers paid 25 percent in cash and had four years to pay the balance, the property was exempt from taxes for the first five years after being purchased.

Virginia Military District was surveyed in 1787, and the first patent was issued in 1796. Bounty land warrants issued for military service in Virginia during the Revolutionary War or the French and Indian Wars were redeemed for land in Kentucky or in this district of Ohio. The first owners may not have been from Virginia and may not have been soldiers, since warrants could be inherited, sold, or legally assigned. Lands were described by metes and bounds in this district and are identified in deeds, tax lists, and other records by the original survey number assigned to each parcel. Original records for this district are found at the [http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/suitland/ National Archives—Suitland Branch]; the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Bureau of Land Management, Springfield, Virginia]; the [Ohio] Auditor of State's Land Office (address to follow); and the [http://www.ohiohistory.org/ Ohio Historical Society].  

'''[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=702 Firelands or Sufferers Lands]'''. In 1781, nine towns in Connecticut were destroyed by the British. These lands in the west end of the Western Reserve were granted by Connecticut to the sufferers, their heirs, or assignees. Land was partitioned in 1808. See ''The Firelands Pioneer''<ref name="null">''The Firelands Pioneer''. Norwalk, Ohio: Firelands Historical Society, 1858-1878. {{WorldCat|2446934|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; (FS Library film {{FSC|299185|item}} film 1320962 items 1-13, contains vols. 1-13; book series 977.1 B2f; {{FSC|1245876|item}}, book 977.1 B2f for index 1858-1937; film {{FSC|71463|item}}, film 1320941 item 1; Obituary index, book {{FSC|1343892|item}}, book 977.1 B2f index supp. 1857-1909, fiche 6088685 (1 fiche).</ref>