Land Entry Case Files: Difference between revisions

:::'''''Example''''': [http://www.ingallshomestead.com/history.html homestead case file] for the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder of ''Little House on the Prairie;'' 24-page 1880-1886 De Smet, South Dakota<br><br>

:*'''''Military bounty land ''''' case files can include warrants, treasury certificates, exchange certificates, and applications.<ref>E. Wade Hone, ''Land and Property Research in the United States'' (Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry Pub., c1997), 115-26. {{WorldCat|483096407|item|disp=At various repositories (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|766994|item|disp=FS Library Book 973 R27h}}.</ref>  

:*'''''Cash entry ''''' may include an application, receipt, warrant for survey, survey, testimonies, affidavits, newspaper notifications, naturalization papers, final certificate, and patent.<ref>Hone, 111-13, and 127-18.</ref><br><br>

:Before 1840 usually listed: <ref>Kenneth Hawkins, ''Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office: Record Group 49'', Reference Information Paper, 114 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 2009), 1-2. [http://www.archives.gov/publications/ref-info-papers/rip114.pdf Internet version (pdf)] {{WorldCat|146498814|item|disp=At various repositories (WorldCat)}}  {{FSC|1440124|item|disp=FS Library Ref Book 973 J53hrL}}</ref>  

::*the entryman (applicant)

::*location

::*acreage

::*price

::*date

::*place of the land entry

:After 1840 case files often contain:<ref>Kenneth Hawkins, ''Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office: Record Group 49'', Reference Information Paper, 114 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 2009), 1-2. [http://www.archives.gov/publications/ref-info-papers/rip114.pdf Internet version (pdf)] {{WorldCat|146498814|item|disp=At various repositories (WorldCat)}}  {{FSC|1440124|item|disp=FS Library Ref Book 973 J53hrL}}</ref>  

::*the entryman (applicant)

::*the entryman's age

::*place of birth

::*citizenship

::*military service

::*literacy

::*economic status

::*similar information about family members

:''Also:''  

::*land title

::*land use

::*rights of way

::*land surveys

::*crops

::*improvements

::*conflicting claims

:'''A.''' in an index under an ancestor's name, or <br>  

:'''B.''' by browsing appropriate tract books page-by-page for an ancestor's name.<br>

:'''Sources which show the land description:'''

:*'''Land patent.''' If your family still has the patent (original title) for a piece of property, that patent will show the land description.  

:*'''[https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx?searchTabIndex=0&searchByTypeIndex=0 BLM land patent search].''' The online index to eight million land patents 1820-1908 and [[US Military Bounty Land Warrants|military bounty land]] shows each entry's land description. However, this index does '''not''' include the two million [[Land_entry_case_files|case files]] which were never finished, forfeited, relinquished, or cancelled.  

:*'''Seven states index.''' The ''seven states index '' at the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives in Washington, DC]], also gives each entry's land description. The index covers Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and Utah for pre-1908 [[Land_entry_case_files|case files]] both patented and unpatented.<ref>Hawkins, 3-4.</ref>  

:*'''Use search engines like''' '''''Google ''''' to identify state land record indexes that could reveal land descriptions. Selected states may have indexed their own land records. ''For example'', see the [https://history.nebraska.gov/collections/nebraska-homestead-land-records Nebraska 1860-1954 Tract Books Index].

:'''1Bi.''' The following sources can help narrow the number of tract books to search:

:*'''''Coverage table'''''. Use the description of the townships and ranges covered in each tract book as described in the [[United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books Coverage Table - FamilySearch Historical Records|'''Tract Books Coverage Table''']] to narrow down the volumes you will need to view to find an ancestor's land entry. ''For example:'' [[Image:Tract books coverage table example.png|center|600px|Tract books coverage table example.png]]  

:*'''''FS Catalog description.''''' For a detailed list of this collection's '''contents by film number''', see the FamilySearch Catalog entry:

::United States, Bureau of Land Management, ''{{FSC|607931|item|disp=Tract Books}}'' (Washington, D.C. : Records Improvement, Bureau of Land Management, 1957). {{WorldCat|866217989|item|disp=At various repositories (WorldCat)}}; {{FSC|607931|item|disp=On 1,265 FS Library Films starting with 1445277}}.<br><br>

:*'''''Index'''''. Or, if you have access to the National Archives in Washington, DC, use the '''''Index to Tract Books, RG 49, MLR# UD2321''''',<ref>Index to Tract Books, RG 49, MLR# UD2321, maps arranged by state. Copies of these maps are available for consultation in room G28 of the National Archives Building, Washington, DC, as cited in Hawkins, page 6.</ref> to each state's tract books which allows researchers to identify the tract book number that covers the area in which they are interested.<ref>Hawkins, 4.</ref>  

:*'''''Townships and ranges in each county'''''. In addition, "Appendix A" in ''{{WorldCat|36074524|item|disp=Land and Property Research in the United States}} '' lists each present-day federal land state and county together with its farthest north-, east-, south-, and west- township and range for that county, and the meridian(s) that applies.<ref>Hone, 213-67.</ref> This information can help you narrow down the number of tract books you will need to search.  

:*'''''Land offices'''''. Tract books for some states, such as Alabama and Ohio are organized by land office. Others are organized for the whole state. "Appendix B" in ''Land and Property Research in the United States '' shows the varying land office boundaries in each state over many years.<ref>Hone, 269-497.</ref>

:'''1Bii. Browse the tract books''' looking for an ancestor's name. To browse the online tract books 1820-1980, [http://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https://familysearch.org/recapi/sord/collection/2074276/waypoints click here].

::⇒Select the "State"<br>

::⇒Select the "Volume." In some states the land office is mentioned with the volume number. Clicking on a volume takes you to the images.<br><br>

:To obtain a land entry case file you will need information about the ancestor's state, county, land office, and land description listing the section, township number, and range number. The form also requests the patent number, but if that '''''is lacking''''', you can '''''substitute ''''' photocopies of the tract book entry, and the exact citation for the tract book and page number of the entry.

:*'''Tract books.''' Every case file has a corresponding [[Tract books|tract book]] entry. If you have not already found the tract book entry, do so now. Look for relatives and neighbors in nearby tract book entries.  

:*'''Other related files.''' Case files are usually only part of the iceberg. Patents, warrants, surveys, and newspaper notifications are among the kinds of records that '''''may ''''' be found outside of case files. Look for extra land records at the federal, state, or county levels.  

:*'''Disposal of the property.''' Find out how your ancestor disposed of the property as a way of finding clues about possible relatives. For example, your ancestor may have sold or given land to his or her heirs before death, or the heirs may have sold the land after the individual died. For daughters, the names of their husbands are often provided. For sons, the given names of their wives may be included. Heirs may have sold their interest in the land to another heir even though the record may not indicate this.  

:*'''Nearby property transactions.''' Look for your ancestor acquiring, or disposing of nearby property. Also, look to see if the ancestor disposed of property at a previous residence before moving to this property.  

:*'''Neighboring people.''' Use tracts books, other land records, and censuses to find neighbors. Neighbors sometimes turn out to be relatives.  

:*'''Other non-land sources.''' Use the residence and names to locate other records in the area such as church and census records.  

:*'''Similar surnames.''' Search for records of people in the area who shared a similar surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents.  

:*'''Earlier or later time periods.''' Search the land records for years before and after an ancestor's land transaction. Families are sometimes part of a chain migration. In such cases one family moves into an area and some years later their old neighbors or relatives join them, or leave for another new home. Studying older and newer land records may help show this.