Homestead Records: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:24, 17 October 2023

Online Resources and Websites

Land Patent Search on the BLM-GLO website
1861-1932 United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932 at FamilySearch — images - for Kansas and Nebraska
1863-1909 United States, Homestead Final Certificates, 1863-1909 at FamilySearch - images for Arizona

Homestead Requirements and Results

In 1862 the United States enacted a homestead law to encourage development of mostly-empty western federal lands and promote the yeoman farmer ideal. The original homestead law gave an applicant up to 160 acres (1/4 of a section) of undeveloped land in any federal-land state or territory. To obtain the land a settler had to:

file application papers, and pay filing fees, eventually a total of $18
improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling, and start a farm)
file for a deed of title.

Between 1862 and 1986 about 10 percent of all land in the United States, 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi), were transferred from federal to private control through 1.6 million granted homesteads.^[1]

Only about 40 percent of the applicants who started the process were able to complete it and obtain title to their homestead land.^[2]

Value of the Records

Homestead application papers are good sources of genealogical and family history information. Application papers often mention family members or neighbors, and previous residence as shown in dozens of papers which may include land application forms, citizenship applications, family Bible pages, marriage or death certificates, newspaper clippings, and affidavits. A researcher can obtain applications and related papers from the National Archives if he can provide a legal description of the land for which the homesteader applied (whether the homestead was eventually granted or not).^[3]

Researching the Records

The first step to finding homestead applications and related papers is to obtain the legal description of the land for which the homesteader applied.

Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Completed Homesteads: The BLM-GLO Land Patent Search index only lists people who were actually granted a federal land patent (homestead or other government-to-individual land transfer).^[4] If you find an ancestor in this index, it will provide the legal description of his or her land.

Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Incomplete Applications: The 60 percent of homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are not in the Land Patent Search, but they are in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications from the National Archives. However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead.

If you know the approximate location (at least the county), the legal land description of a homestead may be found in the General Land Office tract books available at the National Archives in Washington, DC, or from FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City (on 1,265 microfilms starting with FS Library Film 1445277). These federal tract books are arranged by state, land office, and legal land description. States often have their own version of these tract books. For instructions see E. Wade Hone, Land & Property Research in the United States (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997), appendices "Tract Book and Township Plat Map Guide to Federal Land States" and "Land Office Boundary Maps for All Federal Land States." Also, you may be able to obtain a legal description of the land from the county recorder of deeds in the county where the land was located.^[3]

Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives. For detailed instructions online explaining how to obtain homestead papers for (a) homesteads granted, and (b) unfinished homestead applications see “Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives” at the end of "Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy."

Texas Homesteads. The state of Texas has an online Land Grant Index similar to a homestead index.^[5]

FamilySearch Catalog

Sources

↑ United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in Homestead National Monument of America at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).
↑ United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homesteading by the Numbers” in Homestead National Monument of America at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/bynumbers.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy” at http://www%7C link.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf (accessed 5 February 2010).
↑ United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records, “Land Patent Search” at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx (accessed 5 February 2010).
↑ “Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search” at http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm (accessed 5 February 2010).

[1] United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in Homestead National Monument of America at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).

[2] United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homesteading by the Numbers” in Homestead National Monument of America at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/bynumbers.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).

[NPSGen-3] 3.0 ^3.1 United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy” at http://www%7C link.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf (accessed 5 February 2010).

[4] United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records, “Land Patent Search” at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx (accessed 5 February 2010).

[5] “Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search” at http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm (accessed 5 February 2010).

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[2]

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''''[[United States]] &gt; [[Portal:United States Land and Property|Land and Property]] &gt; [[Homestead_Records]]'''''
+{{breadcrumb
+| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]]
+| link2=[[United States Land and Property|Land and Property]]
+| link3=
+| link4=
+| link5=[[Homestead_Records|Homestead Records]]
+}}
-=== Homestead Requirements and Results  ===
+== Online Resources and Websites ==
+*[http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Land Patent Search] on the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx BLM-GLO] website
+*'''1861-1932''' {{RecordSearch|2170637|United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932}} at FamilySearch — images - for Kansas and Nebraska
+*'''1863-1909''' {{RecordSearch|2317871|United States, Homestead Final Certificates, 1863-1909}} at FamilySearch - images for Arizona
-In 1862 the United States enacted a homestead law to encourage development of most empty western federal lands and promote the yeoman farmer ideal. The original homestead law gave an applicant up to 160 acres (1/4 of a section) of undeveloped land in any federal-land state or territory. To obtain the land a settler had to: 1. file application papers, and pay a filing fees, total $18, 2. improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling and farm), and, 3. file for a deed of title. Between 1862 and 1986 about 10 percent of all land in the United States, 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi), were transferred from federal to private control through 1.6 million granted homesteads.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>
+== Homestead Requirements and Results ==
-Only about 40 percent of the applicants who started the process were able to complete it and obtain title to their homestead land.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homesteading by the Numbers” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/bynumbers.htm  (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>
+In 1862 the United States enacted a homestead law to encourage development of mostly-empty western federal lands and promote the yeoman farmer ideal. The original homestead law gave an applicant up to 160 acres (1/4 of a section) of undeveloped land in any federal-land state or territory. To obtain the land a settler had to:
-=== Researching the Records  ===
+:#file application papers, and pay filing fees, eventually a total of $18
+:#improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling, and start a farm)
+:#file for a deed of title.
-'''''Value of the Records.''''' Homestead application papers are good sources of genealogical and family history information. Application papers often mention family members or neighbors, and previous residence as shown in dozens of papers which may include land application forms, citizenship applications, family Bible pages, marriage or death certificates, newspaper clippings, and affidavits. A researcher can obtain applications and related papers from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] if he can provide a legal description of the land for which the homesteader applied (whether the homestead was eventually granted or not).<ref name="NPSGen"> United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy” at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>
+Between 1862 and 1986 about 10 percent of all land in the United States, 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi), were transferred from federal to private control through 1.6 million granted homesteads.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>
+Only about 40 percent of the applicants who started the process were able to complete it and obtain title to their homestead land.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homesteading by the Numbers” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/bynumbers.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>   [[Image:Home palmer-epard cabin c.jpg|right|225x200px|<center> Homestead National Monument of America<center></center>]]
+== Value of the Records ==
+Homestead application papers are good sources of genealogical and family history information. Application papers often mention family members or neighbors, and previous residence as shown in dozens of papers which may include land application forms, citizenship applications, family Bible pages, marriage or death certificates, newspaper clippings, and affidavits. A researcher can obtain applications and related papers from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] if he can provide a legal description of the land for which the homesteader applied (whether the homestead was eventually granted or not).<ref name="NPSGen"> United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy” at http://www| link.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref>
+== Researching the Records  ==
 The first step to finding homestead applications and related papers is to obtain the legal description of the land for which the homesteader applied.
-*'''''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Completed Homesteads.''''' The BLM-GLO [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ Land Patent Search] index '''only''' lists people who were actually granted a federal land patent (homestead or other government-to-individual land transfer).<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records, “Land Patent Search” at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref> If you find an ancestor in this index, it will provide the legal description of his or her land.
+*'''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Completed Homesteads:''' The [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx BLM-GLO] [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Land Patent Search] index '''only''' lists people who were actually granted a federal land patent (homestead or other government-to-individual land transfer).<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records, “Land Patent Search” at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref> If you find an ancestor in this index, it will provide the legal description of his or her land.
-*'''''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Incomplete Applications.''''' The 60 percent of homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are '''not''' in the Land Patent Search, but they '''are''' in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]. However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead.
+*'''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Incomplete Applications:'''  The 60 percent of homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are '''not''' in the Land Patent Search, but they '''are''' in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications from the [http://www.archives.gov/research/land/ingalls/index.html National Archives.] However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead.
-:If you know the approximate location (at least the county), the legal land description of a homestead may be found in the General Land Office [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Obtaining_a_Legal_Description_of_the_Land|tract books]] available at the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] in Washington, DC, or from [[Family History Library]] in Salt Lake City ([http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=607931&disp=Tract+books++ on 1,265 microfilms starting with 1445277 (Alaska and Missouri are missing)]). These federal tract books are arranged by state, land office, and legal land description. States often have their own version of these tract books. For instructions see E. Wade Hone, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36074524 Land &amp; Property Research in the United States]'' (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997), appendices "Tract Book and Township Plat Map Guide to Federal Land States" and "Land Office Boundary Maps for All Federal Land States." Also, you may be able to obtain a legal description of the land from the county recorder of deeds in the county where the land was located.<ref name="NPSGen" />
+:If you know the approximate location (at least the county), the legal land description of a homestead may be found in the General Land Office [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Obtaining_a_Legal_Description_of_the_Land|tract books]] available at the [http://history.nd.gov/archives/gentractbooks.html National Archives] in Washington, DC, or from [https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/ FamilySearch Library] in Salt Lake City ({{FSC|607931|title-id|disp=on 1,265 microfilms starting with FS Library Film 1445277}}). These federal tract books are arranged by state, land office, and legal land description. States often have their own version of these tract books. For instructions see E. Wade Hone, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36074524 Land &amp; Property Research in the United States]'' (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997), appendices "Tract Book and Township Plat Map Guide to Federal Land States" and "Land Office Boundary Maps for All Federal Land States." Also, you may be able to obtain a legal description of the land from the county recorder of deeds in the county where the land was located.<ref name="NPSGen" />
-=== Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives  ===
+*'''Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives'''''<b>.</b>'' For detailed instructions online explaining how to obtain homestead papers for (a) homesteads granted, and (b) unfinished homestead applications see “Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives” at the '''''end of'''''  "[http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy]."
-For detailed instructions explaining how to obtain homestead papers for both granted and unfinished applications see “Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives” '''''at the end of''''' “[http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy].”
+*'''Texas Homesteads'''''<b>.</b>'' The state of Texas has an online [http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm Land Grant Index] similar to a homestead index.<ref>“Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search” at http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm (accessed 5 February 2010). </ref>
-=== Texas Homesteads  ===
+== FamilySearch Catalog ==
+*Most of the collections were digitized at the Regional Archives (National Archives) in Denver, Colorado
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526483 Colorado, Denver County, homestead records, 1864-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526485 Colorado, Garfield County, homestead records, 1884-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526484 Colorado, Gilpin County, homestead records, 1868-1894]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526492 Colorado, Gunnison County, homestead records, 1882-1907]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526487 Colorado, La Plata County, homestead records, 1882-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526493 Colorado, Lincoln County, homestead records, 1890-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526498 Colorado, Montrose County, homestead records, 1877-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526495 Colorado, Prowers County, homestead records, 1887-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526488 Colorado, Rio Grande County, homestead records, 1875-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526480 Montana, Cascade County, homestead records, 1902-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526475 Montana, Flathead County, homestead records, 1897-1933]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526477 Montana, Gallatin County, homestead records, 1895-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526515 Montana, Lewis and Clark County, homestead records for Shoshone land, 1906-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526481 Montana, Lewis and Clark County, homestead records, 1868-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526491 Montana, Valley County, homestead records, 1892-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526494 New Mexico, Doña Ana and Sant Fe counties, homestead records, 1868-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526499 New Mexico, Santa Fe County, homestead records, 1870-1909]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1211789 New Mexico, Socorro County, Homestead records, 1882-1906]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526486 New Mexico, Union County, homestead records, 1881-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526503 Utah, Salt lake County, Salt Lake City, land records : homesteads, 1868-1946]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526489 Wyoming, Converse County, homestead records, 1890-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2778765 Wyoming, Crook County, homestead records, 1890-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526482 Wyoming, Fremont County, homestead records, 1890-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526510 Wyoming, Johnson County, homestead records, 1888-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526478 Wyoming, Laramie County, homestead records, 1874-1908]
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2526479 Wyoming, Uinta County, homestead records, 1877-1908]
-The state of Texas has a [http://wwwdb.glo.state.tx.us/central/LandGrants/LandGrantsSearch.cfm Land Grant Index] similar to a homestead index.<ref>“Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search” at http://wwwdb.glo.state.tx.us/central/LandGrants/LandGrantsSearch.cfm (accessed 5 February 2010). </ref>
+== Related Content  ==
-=== Related Content  ===
+*[http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm Homestead National Monument of America] – National Park Service
+*[http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Search Documents] at BLM General Land Office Records
+*Constance Potter “Genealogy Notes: De Smet, Dakota Territory, Little Town in the National Archives, Part 2” Prologue (Winter 2003), 35:4 at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/little-town-in-nara-2.html (accessed 5 February 2010).
+*[http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search]
+*For further information on Homestead records, see the on line video course at www.familysearch.org entitled: [https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/learning-center "Homestead Records"] by Roberta "Bobbi" King.
-*United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service “Homestead National Monument of America” at http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).
+== Sources  ==
-*Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records Land Patent Search
-*Constance Potter “Genealogy Notes: De Smet, Dakota Territory, Little Town in the National Archives, Part 2” Prologue (Winter 2003), 35:4 at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/little-town-in-nara-2.html
-*Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search
-=== Sources  ===
+{{reflist}}
-{{reflist}}
+{{U.S. Land and Property}}
-[[Category:United_States_Land_and_Property]] [[Category:United_States]] [[Category:Record_Types_of_the_United_States]]
+[[Category:United_States_Land_and_Property]] [[Category:United States Files]] [[Category:United States Files]]