Land Records

Early American Land Warrants, Patents, Land Grants
Land Grants in the Public Domain States



The first lands distributed in the U.S. came from land grants by the crown to groups or wealthy individuals who would then divide the land and sell it in smaller parcels. Lands in the original colonies were primarily distributed this way and after the American Revolution the early states sold off their lands through the patent process.

After land was patented it could be sold again to a new party. Those transactions are found in deed books. Most deed books have been filmed and can be used by going to the FamilySearch catalog, searching for your county and looking for land records.


How do I know if my family owned land?

If you are looking in the last half of the 19th century or any of the 20th century look carefully at your census reports

In 1850 when the census expanded to every household member they added a column for the value of real estate

In 1860 & 1870 this expanded to include real property and personal estate

In 1880 they asked no questions regarding property and since the 1890 census was burned there is no help between 1870 and 1900 unless you have access to a state census that gives that information. FamilySearch gives you access to many of these

1900-1940 they asked if homes were owned or rented, if you lived on a farm or just a house and in 1900-1920 they asked if your property was free of mortgage.

Other possibilities that might help you online

Newspaper sites - see my State by State Newspaper page for help finding free newspaper records

Always search for state archives and see if they have any record collections that include land records.