In Virginia, the Preemption Warrants were issued up to the quantity of 1000 acres to persons who were already going to be granted land "in right of settlement." There the preemption land was supposed to be adjacent to the settlement tract, but in practice the Preemption Warrants were most often sold to speculators who re-sold them for use to claim land elsewhere in what was then Virginia (such as in Kentucky). By the time the settlement tracts were allocated, there just was not sufficient nearby land available for many of the preemption claims. The answer to the question would be in the underlying legislation. The authorizing Act should be identified in the patent document, or in the BLM summary in a form such as this: "Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)" If you do an internet search for its abbreviated citation (3 Stat. 566) for this Act of Congress you should be able to find it, either transcribed on the web somewhere, in the Library of Congress website. You will also find it in the nearest University law library, which is worth investigating in any event -- they all house reports of court cases from State and Federal Court systems as well as legislation. You never know when your target person might have been involved in a complicated civil or criminal matter that was decided in a Court of Appeals or State Supreme Court with an opinion that was published in one of the myriad Reporters. Another treasure-house to explore! Good hunting, Judy ************************** Bethany writes: I am working with a land patent through the BLM that is labeled both on the original patent and in the county deed books as a "Preemption Certificate." I did a bit of research and it looks as though a preemption certificate was issued to someone who was already living on the land they wished to purchase (or a "squatter"). Does anyone know approximately how long someone would have to be living on the land to have a preemption certificate issued?

Judy wrote: >In Virginia, the Preemption Warrants were issued up to the quantity of 1000 acres to persons who were already going to be granted land "in right of settlement." There the preemption land was supposed to be adjacent to the settlement tract, but in practice the Preemption Warrants were most often sold to speculators who re-sold them for use to claim land elsewhere in what was then Virginia (such as in Kentucky). By the time the settlement tracts were allocated, there just was not sufficient nearby land available for many of the preemption claims. Judy makes a valuable reminder to all: State-land states such as Virginia and Kentucky, have different land laws than the public-land states such as Michigan, which Bethany inquired about. Judy also wrote: >The answer to the question would be in the underlying legislation. The authorizing Act should be identified in the patent document, or in the BLM summary in a form such as this: "Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)" One problem here: The preemption act of 22 June 1838, which would apply to Bethany's 1839 purchase, is not one of the broader acts that BLM uses as its general authority. BLM uses that 1820 act as the "authority" for many land purchases that also involved other acts--and any preemption terms addressed in, say, that 1820 act would be superseded by the 1838 act (which, of course, was altered by the 1841 act that Angela mentioned--although the 1841 terms would be too late for Bethany's need). Elizabeth ---------------------------------------------------- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG www.HistoricPathways.com www.EvidenceExplained.com & for daily tips on records and record usage: www.Facebook.com/EvidenceExplained