Debi, I have two mailing lists at Onelist, the AutreyChat and BowiecoTex that are actively used. May I have permission to copy and paste your note to these lists as well as to the Autry-L list? I had never read this, and it is very informative. Jo Autrey Researching Autrey and connected lines in Lincoln Parish, La. http://members.tripod.com/~JoMAutrey ----- Original Message ----- From: <DMurphy265@aol.com> To: <LALINCOL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 12:57 AM Subject: Re: [LALINCOL-L] Land patents > Hi Peggy and all, > > I wanted to add a little to Peggy's information on the land Patents at the > BLM site. I've been using their wonderful site since they came online. It's > one of the best resources available to us online in my opinion. > > But one thing not everyone knows is the Land Patent at the site was the last > document connected to the land transaction. That document was issued in > Washington after our ancestor had registered their land (Which sometimes took > them years because of the fees charged for doing so. One of my > gg-grandfathers entered his homestead 27 years before the patent date. He > didn't register it until he was selling 80 acres of the tract), it then went > to the district land office and then on to Washington. > > The documents you order from them online are only certified copies of the > patent you view free online. > > Where you really get great information is sending off to National Archives > for the land packet. They hold all the old files of the Bureau of Land > Mangement Eastern States. They cost $10.00 per packet. If it was a cash > entry what you get is normally only the receipts but these do have the > persons actual signature on them. But you can better pinpoint when your guy > actually came into the area. One of my receipts from a cash entry was 6 > years before the patent date. I also sent in for one of mine thinking I'd > only get the receipts because it said Cash Entry on the BLM glorecords site. > Did I have a surprise. I was actually a homestead and wrongly entered on the > website. > > If the land was a homestead, military bounty land grant, timber grant, > Choctow Strip, etc then you've really hit pay dirt. Contained in the land > packet you get from National Archives is an affidavit your ancestor filled > out, two from persons who knew him, a copy of the receipts for registering, > copy of the newspaper article declaring his claim on the land and a few other > loose papers. The affidavit the land owner fills out ask when AND where he > was born, number of persons in the household, improvements to the land and > several other interesting things. Very interesting reads! > > You must file a Form 84 to get the Land Entry files. To get the forms via > regular mail send a request to: > > inquire@arch2.nara.gov > > In the body of the email put Form 84 and the number you want. Then include > your mailing address. They should arrive with a few days. > > Then If you'll put your credit card number on Form 84 when you send it to > Washington it'll speed up the time of wait by 2 to 3 weeks. > > Another neat trick for the site searching for other people around you > ancestor. After you find them jot down the land description and go back to > the page where you entered the patentee name. ONLY enter the land > description at the bottom. The hits that come up will give you the other > people who received patents in their section. > > Also remember that only the person receiving patents are entered on the site > now. Those were the first private land owners of that tract. > > Debi > > > ==== LALINCOL Mailing List ==== > Check out the Lincoln Parish Archives at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/la/lincoln.htm >