Minnesota Land and Property: Difference between revisions

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The availability of land attracted many immigrants to America and encouraged westward expansion. Land ownership was generally recorded in an area as soon as settlers began to arrive. Land records are primarily used to learn where an individual lived and when he lived there. They often reveal other family information, such as the name of a spouse, heir, other relatives, or neighbors. You may learn where a person lived previously, his occupation, if he had served in the military, if he was a naturalized citizen, and other clues. Sale of the land may show when he left and where he was moving.  

If you are new to land research, you may wish to read the Beginner’s corner and other articles included on the [[United States Land and Property|United States Land and Property]] page.  

=== Early Settlers  ===

*Simpson, Hon. Thomas, 1831-1905; Minnesota Historical Society. [http://www.archive.org/details/earlygovernmentl00simprich ''The early government land survey in Minnesota west of the Mississippi River''] Minnesota Historical Society, 1905.

When the area that is now [[Minnesota, United States Genealogy|Minnesota]] became part of the [[United States Genealogy|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. The first General Land Office covering Minnesota was established in Wisconsin in 1848 and was transferred in 1849 to Stillwater, Minnesota. There were eventually as many as 11 land districts within the state: Alexandria, Cass Lake, Crookston, Duluth, Minneapolis, Ojibway (no records exist for this district), Red Wing, Root River, St. Cloud, Stillwater, and Winona. District names and boundaries changed considerably through the years as offices opened and closed and land was transferred from one district to another: the 11 districts had a total of 34 names. By 1908 only three land offices remained. They were located in Cass Lake, Crookston, and Duluth. Records from all other offices had been transferred to Duluth. The Crookston and Duluth offices were closed in 1925. The public domain in Minnesota was declared closed to settlement in 1930, and the land office at Cass Lake was discontinued in 1933.  

=== Federal Land Grants  ===

The earliest land sales in Minnesota were in 1848, when land in the St. Paul area was sold at a land office in St. Croix Falls. However, the first major land boom was 1854–57, when more than 5.25 million acres of public lands were sold. In 1854 Wisconsin settlers were allowed to claim unsurveyed land. Thousands of acres were also transferred to holders of [[US Military Bounty Land Warrants|military bounty land warrants]]. These warrants were originally granted to veterans of the Mexican War of 1848, but most warrants had been sold by the veterans to other individuals, including land speculators.  

After land had been surveyed, the '''survey '''was recorded in township plat books. These usually contained a drawing of the township, noting major geographical features such as waterways. Other federal records include the '''tract books''', '''patents''', and '''case files '''described below.  

*The Bureau of Land Management and General Land Office (BLM-GLO) has an on line [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/ 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.

:*Photocopies from the original Land Survey Field Notes are available through the [http://shop.mnhs.org/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=2170&category=134&CFID=21306210&CFTOKEN=62111521 Minnesota State Historical Society.] The years available are 1848-1907.

Tract books may also serve as indexes to the case files. They are arranged geographically by township and range, so you have to have some idea of the legal description of the land where your ancestor lived to be able to use them. Some legal land descriptions are included in county records.  

:*Certificate number or patent number

A State Land Office was established in 1862. It administered and sold trust fund lands that had been set aside to support public schools and the state university. It also received land grants from the federal government to transmit to the railroads. Records from the State Land Office are at the Minnesota Historical Society. They are described in the following guide:  

UNITED STATES - LAND AND PROPERTY  

After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent land sales and mortgages were usually recorded in the register of deeds office in each county. Original documents were retained by the families, while copies of deeds, mortgages, and leases were kept by the registrar of deeds. Abstracts and indexes for these records are generally available at the county courthouse. Registrars of deeds are now know as county recorders. The FamilySearch Library is continuing to acquire microfilm copies of these records and their indexes from the southern and eastern counties.  

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY] – LAND AND PROPERTY<br>

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{{Minnesota|Minnesota}} {{U.S. Land and Property}}