Diane L Richard wrote: > I see that a David Ahern appears to buy public lands in 1857, described as > Township 116-N and Range 21-W with various parts designated. Hennepin County provides online township range historical maps http://tinyurl.com/27hqnt This is a commercial site but you can check surnames of patent holders here http://www13.co.hennepin.mn.us/HCPropertyMap/default.aspx Note that an Aherns is listed. Not Ahern. Bureau of Land Management search http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ shows David Aherns owned these parcels W½NE 18/ 116-N 21-W No 5th PM MN Hennepin NENW 18/ 116-N 21-W No 5th PM MN Hennepin 2 18/ 116-N 21-W No 5th PM MN Hennepin You can plot these on a map printed out from Henn Co site Nice explanation of how to read land legal descriptions at http://hometown.aol.com/vikkigray/landtutorial.htm You can retrieve all patent holder names in a township at the blm glo site by going to the Standard search tab and entering ONLY the township and range (116-N 21-W for Bloomington MN). This is a way to check for different spellings. Also gives you a list of neighbors. When evaluating my g-grandfather's naturalization papers, I checked all names in his township and his two witnesses were on the list living in nearby farms. Shawne* *