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#file application papers, and pay a filing fees, total $18, | #file application papers, and pay a filing fees, total $18, | ||
#improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling and farm), and, | #improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling and farm), and, | ||
#file for a deed of title. | #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> | 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> | ||
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: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 & 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 [[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 & 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.''''' For detailed instructions explaining how to obtain homestead papers for | '''''Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives.''''' For detailed instructions 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].” | ||
'''''Texas Homesteads.''''' 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> | '''''Texas Homesteads.''''' 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> | ||
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=== Related Content === | === Related Content === | ||
* | *[http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm Homestead National Monument of America] – National Park Service | ||
*Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records | *[http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ Land Patent Search] – Bureau of Land Management 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 | *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). | ||
*Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search | *[http://wwwdb.glo.state.tx.us/central/LandGrants/LandGrantsSearch.cfm Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search] | ||
=== Sources === | === Sources === | ||