Land Entry Case Files and Related Records (2023)

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Homestead Entry Number 1, Brownsfield, Nebraska Land Office, to Daniel Freeman, January 20, 1868. This document is housed in the National Archives in Washington, DC.

See the National Archives catalogue

The cadastral records that are generally of most interest to genealogists are cadastral records. These are records documenting the transfer of public lands from the US government to private ownership.

More than ten million of these individual land deals are in the custody of the National Archives. These case files cover land entries in all 30 public land states.

Case files were filed as military land grants, pre-1908 general land access files, or post-1908 land access files. The information required to access and request copies of the files differs depending on which of these 3 categories of transactions fall.

Learn how to access these records
For more background information and an overview of important terms, see ReviewSearch the archive of the General Landdirektion

For land registers in the remaining 20 states that have never been in the public domain, see theState Archivesfor that particular condition. This includes the original 13 colonies, plus Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Frequently asked questions about real estate files

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What are public states?

Federal public lands refers to territories and later states that were not part of the original 13 colonies or were once their own lands, such as B.Texas. Land distribution within these areas is or was under the administrative control of the federal government, specifically the Department of the Interior, the General Land Office, and later the Bureau of Land Management.

Which states are public land states?

There were 30 public land states. They are the eastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin; and the western states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

How do I find records for non-federal public land states?

For the 20 states that were never public land states, you should start your research at the State Archives or Historical Society. Non-public land states include the original 13 colonies: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Additionally, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia were never public land states.

How do I find property records for my ancestors?

The first thing a researcher needs to know is when and where your ancestors settled. A good place to start is with census records. Once you know this information and feel that your ancestor received land from the federal government (in all 30 public land states), you can look up the information on the Secretariat General for Lands websitewww.glorecords.blm.gov. Please note that this page contains information for property records only.

If your ancestor isn't listed on the website, you'll need to contact thatBranch of the National Archiveswho has the records from the state where your ancestor lived. You must provide the submission team with a legal description of the property (municipality and area). If you don't have the legal description of the property, it may help if you have a city name. Finally, remember that the term "homestead" gets thrown around a lot. Your ancestor may have claimed the land as part of a mining claim, cash payment, military reward, forest reserve, or script. All of these types of claims were filed separately from a property listing.

How do I request copies of Land Entry Process Records?

UseNATF-Formular 84Öto buy online.

associated ledgers

Brochure books:

Land Access Act booklets are also available. These are organized according to the legal description of the country: by municipality, mountain range and section. The contract books are divided into two geographic areas, Eastern States and Western States.

For himwestern states, the leaflets are in theNational Archives Building in Washington DCand somethingNARA Field Offices. These include the states of: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

For himeastern states, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns the contract books and patents. These include the states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

To obtain these Eastern State tract books, contact:

Eastern States Bureau, Bureau of Land Management
Ministry of the Interior
Calle 20M, Suite 950
Washington, DC 20003

Country Patents:

Land patents are the legal documents that transfer ownership of land from the US government to individuals. Now you can search online for basic patent records for both the eastern and western states. Watch themBureau of Land Management land patent search page.*

*Please note this only includes full or custom country listings. Those files that were canceled or abandoned do not exist. Even if the entry was never patented, there may be as much information in these case files as property files. To begin searching for these records, contact theEstablishment of the National Archiveshas the records for that state.

How property records can help you:

These records can be useful for historical, legal, and genealogical research, but they are essentially transactional records: they form the basis of the chain of ownership. Additional research is required to identify subsequent registrants and should be conducted in city, county and state repositories. It can provide new insights into issues of ancestry, family history, title, and land use. For example, records may show age, place of birth, citizenship, military service, literacy, economic status, and may even include similar information about family members. But even the smallest case files can reveal land ownership or settlement locations and important data for reference to other NARA resources such as census, court, military service and pension records.

For more information, seeResearch in the register files of the General Landdirektion (register group 49)

What are people asking about land registers in the History Hub?

You can find answers to your research questions athistory center