Minnesota Land and Property: Difference between revisions

''[[United States Genealogy|United States]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[United States Land and Property|U.S. Land and Property]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Minnesota Genealogy|Minnesota ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[Minnesota_Land_and_Property|Land and Property]]''  

[[{{Minnesota Linden Barn}}]]  

=== Introduction  ===

When the area that is now [[Minnesota Genealogy|Minnesota]] became part of the [[United States Genealogy|United States]], a few prior land claims by early pioneers were settled in the courts, though most of the land was unclaimed. This unclaimed land became the public domain, was '''surveyed''', divided into townships (36 square miles), range and section (one square mile within the township)and then sold through land offices. The first General Land Office covering Minnesota was established in Wisconsin in 1848 and was transferred in 1849 to Stillwater, Minnesota. There were eventually as many as 11 land districts within the state: Alexandria, Cass Lake, Crookston, Duluth, Minneapolis, Ojibway (no records exist for this district), Red Wing, Root River, St. Cloud, Stillwater, and Winona. District names and boundaries changed considerably through the years as offices opened and closed and land was transferred from one district to another: the 11 districts had a total of 34 names. By 1908 only three land offices remained. They were located in Cass Lake, Crookston, and Duluth. Records from all other offices had been transferred to Duluth. The Crookston and Duluth offices were closed in 1925. The public domain in Minnesota was declared closed to settlement in 1930, and the land office at Cass Lake was discontinued in 1933.  

The earliest land sales in Minnesota were in 1848, when land in the St. Paul area was sold at a land office in St. Croix Falls. However, the first major land boom was 1854–57, when more than 5.25 million acres of public lands were sold. In 1854 Wisconsin settlers were allowed to claim unsurveyed land. Thousands of acres were also transferred to holders of [[US Military Bounty Land Warrants|military bounty land warrants]]. These warrants were originally granted to veterans of the Mexican War of 1848, but most warrants had been sold by the veterans to other individuals, including land speculators.  

After land had been surveyed, the '''survey '''was recorded in township plat books. These usually contained a drawing of the township, noting major geographical features such as waterways. Other federal records include the '''tract books''', '''patents''', and '''case files '''described below.  

*The Bureau of Land Management and General Land Office (BLM-GLO) has an on line [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/ Land Patent Search] which is an index to millions of ancestors named in federal land patents and warrants from 1788 to the 1960’s located at the National Archives. This is the best place to begin when searching for a land patent because of the ease of navigation when searching for an ancestor. This internet web site also provides many images of patents.

*United States. Bureau of Land Management. ''Card Files''. Washington, DC: Bureau of Land Management, 19––. On 160 Family History Library films, Minnesota cards are found on {{FHL|511740|item}}, films 1501675-76. Use these to find the land office name and certificate numbers. Cards mainly cover cash purchases during the 1850s and 1860s. Each card contains the following information: Certificate number District Land Office Kind of entry (cash, credit, warrant, etc.) Name of patentee and county of origin Land description Number of acres Date of patent Volume and page where document can be located . Because these index cards are arranged by township and range within each state, the researcher will need to already have an approximate legal description in order to access these cards. In a few cases, the cards include names of entire families as assignors.

Minnesota uses the rectangular land survey system of section, township, and range.The townships were six-mile square blocks of land, divided into 36 one-mile squares called sections. The township was numbered north and south, starting from the center line, and the range was numbered east and west starting from the center line.  

*Minnesota Historical Society Research Center<br>345 Kellogg Boulevard W.<br>St Paul, MN 55102-1906<br>Telephone: 651-296-2143<br>Fax: 651-297-7436 <br>Internet: [http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/mho/regcent.html www.mnhs.org/preserve/mho/regcent.html]<br>Holds microfilm copies of tract books and township plats.

When federal land was finally transferred to private individuals, it was said to be patented.  

:*Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office<br>7450 Boston Boulevard<br>Springfield, VA 22153<br>Telephone: 703-440-1523<br>Fax: 703-440-1599<br>

Also known as Land Entry Files or Patent Files, the case file is the accumulation of paperwork gathered during the land transactions which occurred when the land is transferred from the U.S. Government to private ownership and are kept at the&nbsp;National Archives in Washington D.C.&nbsp;These documents are the most helpful records for researchers because some files contain valuable information and may include personal or family information, such as military discharge papers, proof of citizenship, former residences, birthplaces and more. While not all files have pertinent information for the researcher, they are often worth obtaining. &nbsp;For further information regarding case files and how to order them, you will want to read the article [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Locating_the_Land_and_it.27s_Associated_Records|''Locating the Land and it's Associated Records'']]&nbsp; at the United States Land and Property wiki page.&nbsp;&nbsp;The physical address of where the records are kept at the National Archives is as follows: