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'''Content.''' Tract books show the type of land entry, its legal description (numbered section, township and range), acreage, price, entryman's name, application date, and (if applicable) patenting date and numbers.<ref name="Haw5" /> | '''Content.''' Tract books show the type of land entry, its legal description (numbered section, township and range), acreage, price, entryman's name, application date, and (if applicable) patenting date and numbers.<ref name="Haw5" /> | ||
'''Preparing to use tract books.''' 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. | '''Preparing to use tract books.''' 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. | ||
Or, if you have access to the National Archives in Washington, DC use the '''''map index'''''<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 name="Haw4" /> | Or, if you have access to the National Archives in Washington, DC use the '''''map index'''''<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 name="Haw4" /> | ||
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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, ????????</ref> | 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, ????????</ref> | ||
'''Tract book arrangement.''' Tract book volumes are arranged by the present-day state. In some states tract book volumes are also divided into groups by land office. | '''Tract book arrangement.''' Tract book volumes are arranged by the present-day state. In some states tract book volumes are also divided into groups by land office. The townships and ranges covered in each of the 2,325 tract books is listed at [[United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books Coverage Table (FamilySearch Historical Records)|United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books Coverage Table (FamilySearch Historical Records)]]. | ||
Inside each tract book the arrangement is by the legal land description of the section, township, and range.<ref name="Hone" /> Each land entry was recorded in the tract book across two pages.<ref>Hawkins, 9.</ref> | |||
:*''If you'' '''''know''''' ''the land description'', locate land entry in the appropriate tract book under the appropriate numbered section, township, and range listed on the left side of each page in the volume. | |||
:*''If you'' '''''do NOT know''''' ''the land description'', search each appropriate tract book line-by-line and page-by-page for the name of an ancestor. | |||
:*''If you'' '''''know''''' ''the land description'', locate land entry under the appropriate numbered section, township, and range listed on the left side of each page in the volume. | |||
:*''If you'' '''''do NOT know''''' ''the land description'', search line-by-line and page-by-page for the name of an ancestor. | |||
'''When you find an ancestor's entry.''' Once you find the record of the land entry, be sure to | '''When you find an ancestor's entry.''' Once you find the record of the land entry, be sure to | ||