1882 was a possible year for a land grant but way long after the county population had exceeded 6000. Douglass says on page 64: "In 1800. the Spanish authorities granted four hundred arpents of land to thirteen individuals, the land lying between Saline creek and the Little St. Francois. On the land so granted a settlement was soon made which was called St. Michael; it is now the town of Fredericktown." On page 247 he says Madison County had a population of 2047 in 1820 and in 1830 the population was 2371. My ggg?gp Henry Whitener settled near Marquand (which Douglass places in Bollinger Co) about 1803. It may have taken to 1822 to get the land grants arranged or prior Spanish land grants recognized. I've forgotten the name in question. There is a BLM page that has those land grants on line now. It used to be at: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/asp/queryMO.asp but I was able to get the current search page from there last week. Gerald J.