Angela, In Pennsylvania, the warrantee was the person who received permission to buy the land. It was more specifically, an order to survey the land on which they intended to settle. It was actually the second document to be filed, the application for a warrant being the first. The third document was the survey itself, which often was accompanied by a drawing of the land, noted measurements, and, often, the adjacent property owners, if any. The "Return of Survey," the fourth document, restated the warrant and survey results in words. The patent was the final deed. This final deed did not come quickly to the buyer. It often took years, paying a small amount each year, to fulfill all obligations of the patent. Sometimes, the original warrantee was dead by the time a patent could be issued. Think of it this way. You buy a house, but unless you are among the wealthy, the mortgagor would take control of the house should you not fulfill all obligations. You truly become an owner when you pay off the mortgage. The warrantee received a patent only when all obligations were fulfilled. Also, warrantees for one reason or another may have abandoned their land, or never actually settled on the land, but frequently, the patent was issued to the heir of the original warrantee, such as a son or son-in-law (women did not have land ownership rights). Warrantees may also have decided to move somewhere else and sell their rights before being issued a patent. Also, keep in mind, the term "warrantee" usually referred to the first land purchaser. Prior to the Revolution, the original owner of all land in Pennsylvania was William Penn. Warrants and patents were issued by Penn, or, after his death, by his descendants. After the Revolution, the Commonwealth seized all land controlled by the Penn family, except the land on which the Penn family actually lived on or worked. Although the Penn family was regarded as being part of the former English establishment, William Penn, and his legacy, was so well respected that his families and their personal property were treated with fairness and kind regard. However, from then on, unsettled land was managed by Pennsylvania and the state issued warrants and patents. If land had been already patented and simply later sold to a buyer, then this would not be recorded as a warrant transaction, but recorded at the county level, generally the same as you do today when you sell your home and property to a buyer. The deed is recorded at the county level. Another factor to consider is, if you are talking about county records, you must know what county had jurisdiction at the time of the transaction. For example, between September of 1789 and March of 1831, when there was no Juniata County, transactions were recorded in Mifflin County (prior to 1789, Cumberland or Northumberland Counties, depending on the location, had control). An excellent book for understanding land records research in Pennsylvania is: Donna Bingham Munger, "Pennsylvania Land Records: A History and Guide for Research," Third Printing (Wilmington, Del.: Scholary Resources, Inc. in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1991). It is available for $29.95 paperback, or, for a hardbound cloth edition at $75.00, plus $3.50 for shipping and, if a PA resident, add 6% sales tax, from: Publications Sales Program Pennsylvania Heritage Society P.O. Box 11466 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1466 I hope this helps. Happy Holidays! Fred ----- Original Message ----- From: Angela Buchanan-Bloch <abuchana@eagle.ycp.edu> To: <PAJUNIAT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 8:12 AM Subject: Land Records > Can anyone share their knowledge of land records? I've noticed that many > times the name of the Warrantee is different from the Patentee. Does > this mean that by the time the land was actually deeded, the original > person who had applied for it had sold it to someone else? Would this > have just been a "business deal" where someone applied for land grants > just to resell them to others? > > I'm beginning to think that in cases where I know an ancestor lived in a > certain area during this early period - I should search for his name as > a Patentee rather than a Warrantee. Any advice is welcome. > > Angie >