United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

	This article describes a collection of historical records available at FamilySearch.org.
Access the records: United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932 . CID2170637 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}

Record Description

This collection includes serialized land entry case files that were cancelled, relinquished, or rejected by the General Land Office for the years 1861 to 1932. The applications include homesteads, mining claims, and land preemptions. This collection includes Nebraska land offices at Alliance, Broken Bow, Lincoln, North Platte, O'Neill, and Valentine. The records are at the NARA Regional Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This collection is being published as images become available.

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932.

Record Content

Nebraska, Land Entry Case Files: Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Record Examples
Cancelled Claim
Homestead Application page 1
Homestead Application page 2
Homestead Affidavit
Non-Mineral Affidavit
Land Office Register
Power of Attorney
Relinquisment
Affidavit of Contest page 1
Affidavit of Contest page 2

The records usually include:

Name of applicant
Date
Description and location of land

How to Use the Record

To begin your search it is helpful to know

Name of the applicant
Approximate date of application

Search the Collection

To browse by image:
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:
⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page
⇒ Select the "State" category
⇒ Select the "Land office name" category
⇒ Select the "Record Type, Date Range, File no. range" category which takes you to the images

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:

There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

Using the Information

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:

Use the name, location and date to find the family in census records.
Use the description and location of land to find the family in land records.
Use the description and location of land to find the family in probate records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives.
When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
Check for nearby land owners with similar or variant spellings of the surnames.
Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
Search the indexes and records of other land offices

Don't overlook FS Library Place United States items or FS Library Keyword United States items in the FamilySearch Library Catalog. For other libraries (local and national) or to gain access to items of interest, see United States Archives and Libraries.

Related Websites

How You Can Contribute

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Citations for This Collection

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Collection Citation:
The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Image citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932.