United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

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United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932 CID2170637 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}
This article describes a collection of records at FamilySearch.org.
United States
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Record Description
Record Type	Land Entry case Files
Record Group	RG 49: Records of the Bureau of Land management
Collection years	1861-1932
National Archives Identifier	378
FamilySearch Resources
United States Land and Property
Nebraska Land and Property
Kansas Land and Property
Related Websites
NARA Introduction to Land Records
NARA Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office
National Archives Land Records
National Archives Records of the Bureau of Land Management
National Archives Index to Cancelled, Rejected, and Relinquished Land Entry Files
Archive
National Archives and Records Administration

What is in the Collection?

This collection includes serialized land entry case files that were cancelled, relinquished, or rejected by the General Land Office for the years 1861 to 1932. The applications include homesteads, mining claims, and land preemptions. This collection includes Nebraska land offices at Alliance, Broken Bow, Lincoln, North Platte, O'Neill, and Valentine. The records are at the NARA Regional Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This collection is being published as images become available.

• Land Offices Currently Available
• Kansas
• Dodge City, 1894-1919, nos. 1-14686 NAID 584041
• Topeka, 1861-1925, nos. 1-5599 NAID 584006
• Nebraska
• Alliance, 1908-1932, nos. 1-18285 NAID 584054

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932.

What Can these Records Tell Me?

The records usually include:

• Name of applicant
• Date
• Description and location of land

Collection Content

Sample Images

• Nebraska, Land Entry Case Files: Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Record Examples
• 

  Cancelled Claim

• 

  Homestead Application page 1

• 

  Homestead Application page 2

• 

  Homestead Affidavit

• 

  Non-Mineral Affidavit

• 

  Land Office Register

• 

  Power of Attorney

• 

  Relinquisment

• 

  Affidavit of Contest page 1

• 

  Affidavit of Contest page 2

How Do I Search the Collection?

To begin your search it is helpful to know:

• The name of the applicant.
• The approximate date of application.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then:
⇒ Select the "State" category
⇒ Select the "Land office name" category
⇒ Select the "Record Type, Date Range, File no. range" category

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?

Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

• Use the name, location and date to find the family in census records, land records, and probate records.
• Use the ages in those records to estimate birth dates and find birth, christenings, marriage and death records.
• Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
• Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

• Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
• Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
• If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
• Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
• Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
• Search the indexes and records of United States Genealogy.
• Search in the United States Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Collection Citation: The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Image citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.