Iowa Land and Property: Difference between revisions

When the area that is now [[Iowa Genealogy|Iowa]] became part of the [[United States|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. Iowa land office records began in 1838, when Iowa became a territory and land offices were established. Iowa is termed a [[Government Land Grants|Federal land state]] (public domain), and the government granted land through [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)|cash sales (entries)]], [[Homestead Records|homesteads]], [[United States. United-States - Land and Property- Military bounty land|military bound land warrants]] as well as granting other claims such as [[Mining Claims|mining]] and [[Timberland|timberland claims]].  Federal land purchases are contained in a case file held at the National Archives. In order to obtain the '''case file''', a legal description of the land is needed which may be found in a deed, plat map, '''tract book''', or '''patent books'''. To learn how to obtain this land description, see the wiki article under United States Land and Property - Federal Land - [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Obtaining_a_Legal_Description_of_the_Land|Obtaining a Legal Description of the Land]].  

*The Bureau of Land Management and General Land Office (BLM-GLO) has an on line [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx 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, D.C.: Bureau of Land Management, 19—. On 160 Family History Library films beginning with film 1501522, {{FHL|511740|item}}. 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.

Iowa 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.  

*The actual patents may be found on line at the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office web site (BLM-GLO)] as indicated in the section on indexes.  They may also be found at the following office: