Michigan Land and Property: Difference between revisions

Michigan was settled by the French in the early days. In 1702 Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac found the area we now call Detroit and took possession of the land for France. He built a fort called Fort Pontchartrain and encouraged agricultural development around the fort. By 1763, the British gained control of the land. One of the biggest attraction to the area was the availability of the Detroit river and Great lakes which provided ease of trade by water. Some of the earliest records in [[Michigan]], including lists of early voters, petitioners, taxpayers, and landowners, are recorded in The American state papers (see below). The following resources may be helpful as you search for these early land records.  

*Michigan Circuit Court (Mackinac County) ''Miscellaneous records, 1805-1841'' Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974. Contains oaths of office, deeds, wills, marriages, 1805-1820; court journal, 1823-1841. {{FHL|955819}}item 2.

*Historical Records Survey (Michigan); Michigan State Library (Lansing, Michigan); Daughters of the American Revolution, Louisa St. Clair Chapter (Detroit, Michigan) ''Early land transfers, Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan ... 1703-1869 State Library and Daughters of the American Revolution, Louisa St. Clair Chapter, sponsors. (n. p.) 1936-1940.'' Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973. {{FHL|926988}}items 2 - 3 through 926998. Includes index.

*Wayne County (Michigan) Register of Deeds ''Deed records, 1766 - 1918'' Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Uth, 1974. {{FHL|926443}}

 

 

=== GOVERNMENT LAND TRANSFERS ===

 

When the area that is now [[Michigan|Michigan]] 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. Michigan 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]].