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