Minnesota Land and Property: Difference between revisions

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.  

Minnesota is a public-domain ("Federal-Land") state where unclaimed land was surveyed, then granted or sold by the government through federal and state land offices. The first sale of a piece of land from the government was called a land patent and the first owner of the land was called a patentee. Later when the land was sold or mortgaged by private owners the document was called a deed. The first federal and state transactions were recorded and the paperwork kept at the federal and state level, while all future transactions were recorded at the office of the county register of deeds. Family History researchers usually use land records from county offices, however, records from federal and state offices may also have genealogical value. For detailed descriptions of land record types see [[United States Land and Property|United States Land and Property]].  

*''Land Records : AL, AR, FL, LA, MI, MN, OH, WI, 1790 - 1907'' [S.I.] : Broderbund, c1996. {{FSC|782723|item}}, CD-ROM no. 9 part 255. This CD includes records which show who obtained what land from the U.S. Government and when. Source documents include homesteads, chas sales, warrants, private land claims, swamp lists, state selections and railroad lists. Records included may not be comprehensive for the time and region covered.

*Powell, Ransom Judd and Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minnesota) ''Papers, undated and 1843, 1896 - 1938''St. Paul, Minnesota : Minnesota Historical Society, c1987. Each film includes a biographical sketch of Ransom Judd Powell, an indepth description of papers and a roll list which describes the papers and their order on the film. His "papers in the Minnesota Historical Society's Division of Library and Archives relate to Powell's involvement with the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians of the White Earth (Minnesota) Reservation 1) as a member of government commission established by Congress in 1913 to compile a roll of land allotments within the White Earth Reservation and determine the blood status of each allottee; and 2) as legal counsel to various lumber companies seeking title to Ojibwe lands and to various White Earth Reservation Indians." -- Prelim. materials. The collection is divided into 5 series: Correspondence and related papers, undated and 1896-1938; Legal case files, undated and 1906-1936; Subject files, undated and 1911-1916; Volumes, undated and 1843, 1906-1920; and Plat maps, 1912-1916. {{FSC|362837|item}}, 15 film starting with 1550598.

The first federal homestead act was passed in 1862. Between 1863 and 1865 Minnesota settlers registered 9,500 entries for free land. Individuals could also buy land cheaply from the railroads. By 1908 most of the land rush was over, and only the three federal land offices mentioned above were still in operation. For further information regarding homestead records, click [[Homestead Records|here]].  

Minnesota 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 [http://www.mnhs.org/collections/digitalmaps/index.htm Minnesota Historical Society ] has some county maps, land atlases, and plat books

The actual patents may be found on line at the [https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx?searchTabIndex=0&searchByTypeIndex=0 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:  

Also known as Land Entry Files or Patent Files, the case file is the accumulation of paperwork gathered during the land transactions which occurred when the land is transferred from the U.S. Government to private ownership and are kept at the National Archives in Washington D.C. These documents are the most helpful records for researchers because some files contain valuable information and may include personal or family information, such as military discharge papers, proof of citizenship, former residences, birthplaces and more. While not all files have pertinent information for the researcher, they are often worth obtaining. For further information regarding case files and how to order them, you will want to read the article [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Locating_the_Land_and_it.27s_Associated_Records|''Locating the Land and it's Associated Records'']] at the United States Land and Property wiki page. The physical address of where the records are kept at the National Archives is as follows: