Hello all, The land system at that time worked something like this, as I understand it: A person became entitled (either by purchase, recompense for military service, or some other gift) to a prescribed amount of land, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This person would then take out a Warrant, stating that a certain acreage in their name existed within the Commonwealth. This was not yet surveyed, etc. Thus, with the warrants, it is basically a document stating, "Somewhere in Centre County, the bearer _____ is entitled to 300 acres of land for service in the military or payment of a set sum," etc., etc., although in much more "legal" language. The person could keep this warrant or then sell it. Whoever wished to pursue it would then have the land surveyed and then it would be Patented. A patent basically was a document, as I understand it, which recorded the survey and stated, the 300 acres guaranteed to so-and-so by virtue of the warrant is located from the apple tree, north 38 perches, etc., etc. Most times a person took out a warrant and never lived there; they sold it to make money; wealthy individuals would buy cheaply the rights to thousands of acres and then sell them to prospective settlers who would then have them surveyed; or, the individuals would take the time to have boundaries drawn before he sold the warrants. Thus, a warrant is only someone acquiring the right to a certain acreage of undefined land that has NEVER BEFORE BEEN owned by another individual, and gets it from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; a patent is the recording of the exact location of the land to which the warrant entitles the individual. After a private party comes into ownership of the land, there are two manners in which it can be disposed of: by deed or by will. The following names are purely hypothetical. Thus, let's say that John Smith took out a warrant for 300 acres in Centre Co. in 1801. No one had ever owned this land before him. He staked his claim, had it surveyed, divided the land into two 150 acre lots, and had it "Patented" as such in his name. He then sold the lots to Henry Jones and William Smith in 1805. Those are private transactions, by Deed, and would not be recorded in any warrant book. They were recorded in the County Deed Books. Then, let's say Henry Jones died in 1850 and left a will, declaring that his acreage would be divided among his five sons. No deeds for this were recorded (usually), as the transfer was made by will. So, if you are hunting when Henry Jones bought his land, it will not appear in any warrant books; he actually bought land from John Smith in 1805, aka "The John Smith Warrant" and that record would be filed in the County Recorder of Deeds office. Those are not online; one must write or visit them. The only reason your ancestor will show up in a Warrant book is if he bought land that had never before been owned by an individual; if he bought land from another individual, the deed book is the place to find it. Or, he may have inherited by a will and there is no deed. Hope this helps. Justin Justin Kirk Houser Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio (and others) President, BAHS Class of 2003 Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) Member, Valley View United Methodist Church "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"

As usual, Justin enters, and the light dawns! What would we ever do without Justin? It just amazes me that he has so much knowledge of Centre County and can explain everything so well. Thanks so much for the clarification, Justin! By the way, are the records of deeds pretty complete as far as land that was actually acquired by deed? What information does a person need in order to look up deeds? What if all you have is a name on a tax list for a certain year? Thanks again! Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: <JKHouser84@aol.com> To: <PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 6:29 PM Subject: [PACENTRE] Pennsylvania Land Records, Warrants, etc. Hello all, The land system at that time worked something like this, as I understand it: A person became entitled (either by purchase, recompense for military service, or some other gift) to a prescribed amount of land, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This person would then take out a Warrant, stating that a certain acreage in their name existed within the Commonwealth. This was not yet surveyed, etc. Thus, with the warrants, it is basically a document stating, "Somewhere in Centre County, the bearer _____ is entitled to 300 acres of land for service in the military or payment of a set sum," etc., etc., although in much more "legal" language. The person could keep this warrant or then sell it. Whoever wished to pursue it would then have the land surveyed and then it would be Patented. A patent basically was a document, as I understand it, which recorded the survey and stated, the 300 acres guaranteed to so-and-so by virtue of the warrant is located from the apple tree, north 38 perches, etc., etc. Most times a person took out a warrant and never lived there; they sold it to make money; wealthy individuals would buy cheaply the rights to thousands of acres and then sell them to prospective settlers who would then have them surveyed; or, the individuals would take the time to have boundaries drawn before he sold the warrants. Thus, a warrant is only someone acquiring the right to a certain acreage of undefined land that has NEVER BEFORE BEEN owned by another individual, and gets it from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; a patent is the recording of the exact location of the land to which the warrant entitles the individual. After a private party comes into ownership of the land, there are two manners in which it can be disposed of: by deed or by will. The following names are purely hypothetical. Thus, let's say that John Smith took out a warrant for 300 acres in Centre Co. in 1801. No one had ever owned this land before him. He staked his claim, had it surveyed, divided the land into two 150 acre lots, and had it "Patented" as such in his name. He then sold the lots to Henry Jones and William Smith in 1805. Those are private transactions, by Deed, and would not be recorded in any warrant book. They were recorded in the County Deed Books. Then, let's say Henry Jones died in 1850 and left a will, declaring that his acreage would be divided among his five sons. No deeds for this were recorded (usually), as the transfer was made by will. So, if you are hunting when Henry Jones bought his land, it will not appear in any warrant books; he actually bought land from John Smith in 1805, aka "The John Smith Warrant" and that record would be filed in the County Recorder of Deeds office. Those are not online; one must write or visit them. The only reason your ancestor will show up in a Warrant book is if he bought land that had never before been owned by an individual; if he bought land from another individual, the deed book is the place to find it. Or, he may have inherited by a will and there is no deed. Hope this helps. Justin Justin Kirk Houser Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio (and others) President, BAHS Class of 2003 Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) Member, Valley View United Methodist Church "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" ==== PACENTRE Mailing List ==== Respond to posts if you have data on the particular question -- you never know when someone has information that can help you!

Hi: Thank you for the important information on the warrantees! I don't know what the law was back in the 1800's but in Michigan, I believe, land acquired by a Will was recorded by deed from "The Estate of ...." or at least that is what is done in Michigan. The executor prepared and the Court approved the transaction. Consequently, the record of the land transfer would be in both the estate file (Probate Court) and the Register of Deeds (in MI) and handwritten in the Tract Index. States have different names for the departments and different laws. Many complications can occur during this time---objections by other heirs, problems with some heirs refusing to sign off, claims of incompetence of the deceased, and so on. Really quite fascinating. I have a copy of a file for a gg grandmother (widow) of my husband. The Will is quite definite that the estate was to be split between her daughter (g grandmother) and her granddaughter (grandmother) but that didn't happen. His grandmother received nothing according to the final Order. Explain that??? This kinda confirmed other things about the g grandmother who didn't raise her own daughter (his grandmother). She was raised by her this grandparents. Her mother divorced ? (no record) and married two more times?? What things we find in genealogy! Marge ----- Original Message ----- From: <JKHouser84@aol.com> To: <PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 10:29 PM Subject: [PACENTRE] Pennsylvania Land Records, Warrants, etc. > Hello all, > > The land system at that time worked something like this, as I understand it: > > A person became entitled (either by purchase, recompense for military > service, or some other gift) to a prescribed amount of land, from the > Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This person would then take out a Warrant, > stating that a certain acreage in their name existed within the Commonwealth. > This was not yet surveyed, etc. Thus, with the warrants, it is basically a > document stating, "Somewhere in Centre County, the bearer _____ is entitled > to 300 acres of land for service in the military or payment of a set sum," > etc., etc., although in much more "legal" language. > > The person could keep this warrant or then sell it. Whoever wished to pursue > it would then have the land surveyed and then it would be Patented. A patent > basically was a document, as I understand it, which recorded the survey and > stated, the 300 acres guaranteed to so-and-so by virtue of the warrant is > located from the apple tree, north 38 perches, etc., etc. > > Most times a person took out a warrant and never lived there; they sold it to > make money; wealthy individuals would buy cheaply the rights to thousands of > acres and then sell them to prospective settlers who would then have them > surveyed; or, the individuals would take the time to have boundaries drawn > before he sold the warrants. > > Thus, a warrant is only someone acquiring the right to a certain acreage of > undefined land that has NEVER BEFORE BEEN owned by another individual, and > gets it from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; a patent is the recording of > the exact location of the land to which the warrant entitles the individual. > > After a private party comes into ownership of the land, there are two manners > in which it can be disposed of: by deed or by will. The following names are > purely hypothetical. Thus, let's say that John Smith took out a warrant for > 300 acres in Centre Co. in 1801. No one had ever owned this land before him. > He staked his claim, had it surveyed, divided the land into two 150 acre > lots, and had it "Patented" as such in his name. He then sold the lots to > Henry Jones and William Smith in 1805. Those are private transactions, by > Deed, and would not be recorded in any warrant book. They were recorded in > the County Deed Books. Then, let's say Henry Jones died in 1850 and left a > will, declaring that his acreage would be divided among his five sons. No > deeds for this were recorded (usually), as the transfer was made by will. > > So, if you are hunting when Henry Jones bought his land, it will not appear > in any warrant books; he actually bought land from John Smith in 1805, aka > "The John Smith Warrant" and that record would be filed in the County > Recorder of Deeds office. Those are not online; one must write or visit them. > > The only reason your ancestor will show up in a Warrant book is if he bought > land that had never before been owned by an individual; if he bought land > from another individual, the deed book is the place to find it. Or, he may > have inherited by a will and there is no deed. > > Hope this helps. > > Justin > > Justin Kirk Houser > Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond > Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio (and others) > President, BAHS Class of 2003 > Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com > Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) > Member, Valley View United Methodist Church > "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" > > > ==== PACENTRE Mailing List ==== > Respond to posts if you have data on the particular question -- you never know when someone has information that can help you! >