Illinois Land and Property

The availability of land attracted many immigrants to America and encouraged westward expansion. Land records are primarily used to learn where a person lived and when he or she lived there. They often reveal other family information as well, such as the name of a spouse, an heir, other relatives, or neighbors. You may learn a person’s previous residences, his occupation, if he had served in the military, if he was a naturalized citizen, and other clues for further research.

Early Settlers

Before 1787, settlers in what is now Illinois lived in an area once owned by France, Spain, or Great Britain. Without relocating, early settlers lived in the Northwest Territory in 1787, Indiana Territory in 1800, Illinois Territory in 1809, and finally the State of Illinois in 1818.

Because Illinois became part of the public domain in 1787, its lands were available from the federal government for sale or as a grant for military or other service. United States Land and Property describes government land grants and major resources, many of which include Illinois.

A clear, comprehensive description of public domain lands and the value and use of deeds and other land records is:

Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1997. Ancestry is a trademark of Ancestry, Inc. (FHL book 973 R27h).

At various times, early settlers and others made written claims to the government for lands. Those claims frequently included statements by relatives, heirs, neighbors, or friends and sometimes contained additional genealogical information. A land office was opened at Kaskaskia in 1804 for settling claims and land disputes. Records of these and other claims are in:

United States. Congress. American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States. La Crosse, Wisconsin: Brookhaven Press, 1959. 38 Volumes. (On 29 FHL films, beginning with 1631827.) Classes 8 and 9 of these records deal with public lands and claims for the years 1789 to 1837, and may name siblings or heirs of original claimants. Classes 8 and 9 have been republished in:

United States. Congress. American State Papers, Class 8: Public Lands; Class 9: Claims: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Nine Volumes. 1832–1861. Reprint, Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1994. (FHL book 973 R2ag 1994.) A comprehensive index to Classes 8 and 9 of both of the above records is:

McMullin, Phillip W., ed. Grassroots of America: A Computerized Index to the American State Papers: Land Grants and Claims 1789–1837 with Other Aids to Research (Government Document Serial Set Numbers 28 through 36.) Salt Lake City, Utah: Gendex Corp, 1972. (FHL book 973 R2ag index; fiche 6051323 [set of 6]).

The Raymond H. Hammes Collection described in the "History" section of this outline is significant to early Illinois research in land records. An index to most of the land records in the collection is:

Hammes, Raymond H. (Henry). Consolidated Index for the Raymond H. Hammes Collection at the Illinois State Genealogical Society, Land Records, 1678–1814. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (FHL film 1543598, item 1 While the title implies otherwise, this collection is at the Illinois State Archives.

To find more information on early landowners, see the Territorial Papers of the United States and selected sources for Kaskaskia and other early settlements described in the "History" section.

Government Land Transfers

Both federal and state officials kept records regarding land transfers from government to private ownership, and personal information in the federal records may not be identical to information in the state records.

As the United States acquired territory, unsettled land became public domain and was sold by the federal government. The first general land office to serve Illinois was at Kaskaskia, which opened for land sales to the general public in 1814.

An index to over 550,000 names of original land owners from sales records of the U.S. General Land Office, the Illinois Central Railroad, and Illinois officials was created in 1984. Originally called the Public Domain Computer Conversion Project, it indexes the documents classified as "Record Groups 491 and 952" in the Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the State of Illinois, cited in the "Archives and Libraries" section. A microfiche copy of the index is:

United States. General Land Office. Public Domain Sales Land Tract Record Listing, 1814–1925 (Index.) Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Archives, 1984. (FHL fiche 6016848 [set of 144].) This index provides the name of the purchaser and record identification number; sale type (federal, military, Illinois Central RR, canal lands, or school lands); description of land by section, township, range, meridian, and county; number of acres; and date of purchase. The last two columns give the archives volume and page. All volumes are available at the Illinois State Archives. Volumes 661–716 are on microfilm in:

United States. General Land Office. Federal Land Records, Tract Books of Illinois, 1826–1873. Springfield, Illinois: Office of the Secretary of State, Record Management Division, 1966. (FHL films 899766–84.) This includes 10 of the federal land offices (1826–1873) in Illinois. It provides name, date of purchase, residence at the time of purchase, and legal description of the land. The original records are at the Illinois State Archives.

The Public Domain Land Sales (Index) is available through the Internet address listed for the Illinois State Archives in the "Archives and Libraries" section.

Sources documenting the original transfer of land from the federal government to individuals, such as original patents, copies of tract books, and township plats, are located at:

Bureau of Land Management
Eastern States Office
7450 Boston Boulevard
Springfield, VA 22153
Telephone: 703-440-1600
Fax: 703-440-1609
Internet: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

Microfilm copies of the tract books at the Bureau of Land Management are:

United States. Bureau of Land Management. Tract Books. Washington, D.C.: Records Improvement, Bureau of Land Management, 1957. (On 1,265 FHL films starting with 1445277.) These land tract record books include all public land states and serve as a reference source for transactions involving public lands.

The BLM Eastern States Office has an ongoing project of preparing indexes and images of the documents in their possession for convenient access through the Internet or compact disc. Records of some states are now available, and Illinois is in process. When this index is available, it is advisable to use both the BLM index and the Public Domain Sales (Index) described above, since the indexes were created from different sets of documents.

If an ancestor who did receive public lands is not listed in the Public Domain Sales (Index), use the following until the BLM index is available for Illinois:

United States. Bureau of Land Management. Card Files. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Land Management, 19–?. (FHL films 1501522–681.) Films 1501600–605 and 1501609–663 pertain to Illinois. Because these index cards are arranged by township and range, an approximate legal description is needed to access them. The cards give the land office name and certificate number needed to locate the land-entry case files.

The land-entry case files consist of the papers created during the process of transferring public lands to individuals. They are often rich in genealogical information and may include depositions, receipts, affidavits, proof of citizenship (by birth or naturalization), evidence of military service, and more. Files are available from the National Archives (Pennsylvania Avenue at 8th Street, Washington, DC 20408, Telephone 202-501-5415). Because of the way the files are arranged, the name of the land office and the case file number are required, and a completed NATF form 84 must accompany requests for the case files.

You may find the following publications helpful:

Shawneetown Land District Records 1814–1820. N.p., 1978. (FHL book 977.3 R2s.) This was transcribed and indexed by Lowell M. Volkel. Shawneetown land district covered the present counties of Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Saline, White, Williamson, and parts of nearby counties.

War of 1812 Bounty Lands in Illinois. Thomson, Illinois: Heritage House, 1977. (FHL book 977.3 R2w; film 1035624 item7; fiche 6051272.) Indexed by Lowell M. Volkel, this was originally published as House Document 262, 26th Congress, 1st Session, 1840.

Individual Land Transfers

Once a parcel of land was transferred from the government to private ownership, it may have stayed in the family for generations or for only a few months. It may have been subdivided, sold and resold, with each transaction creating new records. These person-to-person transactions are an important resource to the genealogist. The potential for an ancestor to be recorded is high. These records may offer genealogical clues, such as the given name of the wife, a previous residence, names of children, or death information. Land records also offer clues to maiden names if a father deeded property to his daughter upon marriage. Witnesses and neighbors may also be in-laws or relatives. It is important to trace the purchase and sale (or the acquisition and disposition) of each parcel of land an ancestor owned.

The original records are filed in the county clerks’ or recorders’ offices or in IRAD depositories. Be aware that, as new counties were formed and boundaries changed, transactions were then recorded in the new county, while the parent county retained the records previously created. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the county records and is continuing to microfilm deeds of other counties up to about 1900. Contact the county clerk or recorder for records that have not been microfilmed.

Land records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under:

ILLINOIS- LAND AND PROPERTY

ILLINOIS, [COUNTY]- LAND AND PROPERTY

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