Accessing Land Entry Records (2024)

Prior to 1862, Congress passed a series of acts that either incentivizedindividuals to enlist in Federal military units or compensated them forpast service.

Under these acts, veterans could apply for and receive a warrant granting them a certain amount of public land (typically in 40-acre increments) in exchange for their service.

Veteranswhose applications were approved could surrender their warrant to the local land office to claim the land, although many who did not wish to move chose to sell their warrants to others.

The following information is needed to request a surrendered military bounty land warrant file on site at Archives 1:

• Act under which theland was granted*
• Acreage granted

• Warrant number

*In the GLO Records database, this information is generally listed in the "Authority" field.

Surrendered warrants can also be ordered remotely by using NATF Form 84or placing an order online.

For bounty land warrant applications, see Pre-World War I U.S. Army Pension and Bounty Land Applications.

The broadest range of land entryfiles at Archives 1 record the day-to-day business of theGLOfield branches to approximately 1908.

These recordsinclude credit files (up to about 1820), cash files (from 1820 on), homestead files (from 1862 on), and related records for both patented and cancelled land entries.

The following information is needed to request pre-1908land entry records on siteatArchives 1:

• State
• Land office
• Type of patent under law*

• Patent number**

*In the GLO Records database, the type of patentis generally listed in the "Authority" field.

**In the GLO Records database, the patent number is generally listed in the "Document Nr." field.

Pre-1908land entry files can also be ordered remotely by using NATF Form 84or placing an order online.

Select homestead records havebeen digitized and made available online through Ancestry.com (database title: "U.S., Homestead Records, 1863–1908"), Fold3.com (database title: "Homestead Records (NE)"), and FamilySearch.org (database title: "U.S., Homestead Final Certificates, 1863–1909").

Beginning in July 1908, the GLO revised its system of issuing patents, assigning each consecutive patent issued a uniquenumber instead of assigning numbers by state and land office.

To request a serialland patent file on site at Archives 1, researchers only need the serial patent number. Serial patents at Archives 1 range from approximately 167 to1,242,597.

In the GLO Records database, the serial patentnumber is generally listed in the "Accession Nr." field. The "Issue Date" will be July 1908 or later.

Serial land patent filescan also be ordered remotely by using NATF Form 84or placing an order online.

Note: Whilethe serial land patent filesat Archives 1 can include documents dating as late as theearly 1970s, files dating from the early 1960s on are often housed at the appropriate NARA regional facility.