One possibility is that the land was obtained through provisions of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842; perhaps the family had already found and built on a spot they liked and were able to acquire it then. There were also some early Spanish land grants, large and small. Some of these were used to entice early settlers into the territory of Florida. Have you already looked at the Bureau of Land Management records for Florida? Kathleen Marsh kmarsh@innet.com -----Original Message----- From: Richard & Deborah Callicott <Callicott@pobox.com> To: FLORIDA-L@rootsweb.com <FLORIDA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, March 26, 1999 8:45 AM Subject: Land Patents and other ownership can not find a US land patent ever being issued on the property. (cash sale or homestead).. Were there other ways to obtain property here in FL? The land had been lived on by the family since the 1830's.