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 attractions 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, United States Genealogy|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 these early land records are searched.  

*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. {{FSC|169630|item|disp=FS Library film 955819 item 2}}.

*Wayne County (Michigan) Register of Deeds ''Deed records, 1766 - 1918'' Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974. {{FSC|244568|item|disp=FS Library film 926443.}}

*English, William Hayden ''Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783, and life of General George Rogers Clark : with numerous sketches of men who served under Clark and full list of those allotted lands in Clark's grant for service in the campaigns against the British posts, showing exact land allotted each'' Washington [District of Columbia]: L.C. Photoduplication Service, 1986. {{FSC|340293|item|disp=FS Library film 1454567 items 3-4.}}

*Ainsworth, Fern ''Private land claims, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin'' [Natchitoches, Louisiana : F. Ainsworth, 198-?]. This book contains a private land claims docket index for the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. {{FSC|538634|item|disp=FS Library fiche 6100813 (2 fiche); book 977 R2a.}}

When the area that is now [[Michigan, United States Genealogy|Michigan]] 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. Michigan land office records began in 1838, when Michigan became a territory and land offices were established. Michigan 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]], [[US Military Bounty Land Warrants|military bounty 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]].  

To obtain copies of a case file the following information will be needed which may be found in the land patent records indexed at the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx BLM-GLO web site]: