Category: Land Records

If you have ancestors that went west in search of cheap land, you might want to try to find them in the Federal Land Records. From 1800 until 1908 these land records are found for all the states except the original thirteen colonies, Vermont, Maine, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Texas and Hawaii. These latter states were never part of the Federal public domain. This leaves about 30 present states as part of these Federal Public domain records. Thus you have a lot of latitude in locating your ancestors. If you…

Following the American Revolutionary War, the colonies found themselves with vast expanses of lands and virtually no money. In fact, the cost of the War and the government at the time were financed by a large number of the wealthy citizens of the country. Many of these were the signers of the Declaration of Independence and they had pledged their lives and fortunes in the pursuit of freedom, which it cost them dearly. When England left the colonies, we found ourselves with huge debts but vast riches in land. The…

Sometimes in our genealogical research, we come to the end of our rope. Turning to the land records of an area seems our last resort. To use the land records of a particular area can be very tricky since most areas have been derived from other areas that may not even be close. If you are on the eastern seaboard, the records will be somewhat simpler, but as you move inland, these records can become more confusing. Recently I was researching in one of the oldest counties in the state…