Tennessee Land and Property: Difference between revisions

The ultimate resource guide for Tennessee land up to 1891 is Henry Whitney's ''Land Laws of Tennessee''.  It's about 20MB, but it's downloadable from [http://books.google.com/books?id=I7kZAAAAYAAJ Google Books]. This book is also located at the Family History Library {{FHL|484033|item|disp=FS Library film 1728776}}.{{Adoption TNGenWeb}}  

:<blockquote>"Tennessee is considered a "metes and bounds" state. However, a large portion of it was also set apart in townships and ranges as in public-land states. Tennessee litigated its boundaries with neighboring states until the mid-19th Century. North Carolina and Virginia both claimed portions of Tennessee prior to its statehood. Its eastern lands made up the largest part of the short-lived State of Franklin. Tennessee had to honor North Carolina's unresolved land grants for many years following statehood, and Tennessee was unable to grant its own lands for the first ten years of its existence. Tennessee land (primarily grants) was the basis of the worst land fraud scheme in the history of the United States."</blockquote><blockquote>(McNamara, Billie R. (1996). Book is [http://tngenealogy.net/books/ available from the author]. Also available at the Family History Library,{{FHL|656060|item|disp=FS Library film 2055421 Item 2; book 976.8 R2m}}</blockquote>

Tennessee. Governor. ''Land Grants, 1775–1905, 1911''. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1976. {{FHL|351626|item|disp=FS Library film 1002725 (first of 229 films)}} . Indexes are included in some volumes and many years are mixed. Some volumes are missing. The land grants are completely indexed in:  

Sistler, Byron. ''Tennessee Land Grants, Surnames''. 17 Volumes. Nashville, Tennessee: Byron Sistler, 1997. {{FHL|644770|item|disp=FS Library fiche beginning 6039091 (first of 24 fiche); book 976.8 R2s}}. This work provides an alphabetical listing of surnames listing the year of the grant, acreage, district, where the grant is located, book and page number, the grant number, and any additional grantees.  

Kentucky. Governor. ''Grants South of Walker’s Line.'' Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1962. {{FHL|242509|item|disp=FS Library films 272869–73}}. This record contains land grants given by the state of Kentucky for land in the state of Tennessee.  

*Griffey, Irene, compiler. ''The Preemptors: Middle Tennessee's First Settlers''. Clarksville: P.p., 1989. {{FHL|507875|item|disp=FS Library book 976.8 R2g}}. Notes if grants were made to the resident (at the time that the commissioners visited in 1782-3) or to an assignee.<br>

Tennessee Valley Authority (Tennessee). ''Tennessee Population Relocation Files, 1934–1954'', Tennessee Valley Authority. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1996. Originals are at the National Archives Record Office, East Point, Georgia. {{FHL|760634|item|disp=FS Library film 2033011 (first of 34 films)}}. The record contains the name of the head of family, wife, address, marital status, birthplace of parents, number and ages of children, occupation, brief description of the real estate, and religion.  

*McNamara, Billie R. ''Hawkins County, Tennessee Land Grant Books 1 and 2, 1787-1819''. Knoxville, Tenn.: B.R. McNamara, 1996. {{FHL|744933|item|disp=FS Library film 2055287 Item 6; book 976.895 R29m}}. [http://tngenealogy.net/books/ Available from the author].

Pruit, Albert Bruce. ''Tennessee Land Entries Military Bounty Lands.'' Seven Volumes. Whitakers, North Carolina, 1997. {{FHL|734414|item|disp=FS Library book 976.8 R2pa}}. Contents include abstracts of location books, warrants, military bounty land warrants, and indexes by name, location, and number. They include the MARS number that ties them to the land warrants and surveys in the North Carolina State Archives. See the [[North Carolina Land and Property]] for information on the MARS index.  

North Carolina. Secretary of State. ''North Carolina and Tennessee; Revolutionary Warrants, 1783–1837.'' Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1978. {{FHL|410233|item|disp=FS Library films 1013361–75}}. This contains handwritten warrants, a description of the land, names, and some hand-drawn maps. The folders are in alphabetical order.  

Rice, Shirley Hollis. ''The Hidden Revolutionary War Land Grants in the Tennessee Military Reservation.'' Lawrenceburg, Tennessee: Family Tree Press, 1992. {{FHL|557048|item|disp=FS Library book 976.8 R2r}}. The record lists the warrant number, grantee, county, book and page number where the deed is entered, and who the land was assigned to. It is indexed.  

Pruitt, Albert Bruce. ''Glasgow Land Fraud Papers, 1783–1800: North Carolina Revolutionary War Bounty Land in Tennessee.'' N.p.: A.B. Pruitt, 1988, 1993. {{FHL|667568|item|disp=FS Library book 976.8 R2p}}. This work contains letters, reports, and warrants found to be suspect or fraudulent. The introduction explains the history of the Glasgow land fraud and how to obtain original warrants. The record contains an index.  

*Whitney, Henry D. ''The Land Laws of Tennessee''<nowiki>:</nowiki>''Being a Compilation of the Various Statutes of North Carolina, the United States, and Tennessee, Relative to Titles to Lands Within the State of Tennessee from the Second Royal Charter to the Present Time; the Constitutional and Statutory Provisions Concerning the Establishment and Change of the Boundary of the State, and of Each County; Tables Showing the Date of Each Hiatus, Editorial Notes, etc., to Which is Added a Digest of the Leading Decisions on the Land Laws''. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1990. {{FHL|484033|item|disp=FS Library film 1728776}}.