Linda Bailey wrote: > How would you know if a warrant was purchased from a land office or > given for military service? Would there be a record of both of these > situations? In theory, yes. Linda, you need to check out a couple of pages. Go to http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/Visitors/Default.asp This page will start to help you learn more about the Federal system of land sales. When you do the patent search and one is found, it will tell you what the authority was under which the claim was made (homestead act, military warrant, etc.) That in turn may help you to be able to get copies of the original claims, etc., from the National Archives. For warrants granted by the government of Virginia, check out the Library of Virginia. http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ the LVA bounty land warrant used to be searchable by warrant number but it may not be so anymore. It may just be name now. Warrant numbers can sometimes be found in the deeds themselves and in the surveyor's books. > When the survey says "John Smith assignee of John Brown assignee of John > Doe" - does this mean that John Doe held the original land warrant? Yes. > That John Doe originally had this piece of land surveyed, but did not > record a deed? He may or may not have held the warrant long enough to get the survey done. He could have sold it immediately upon receipt from the land office. John Doe may never have even gone to the area where the land was eventually claimed to see what it looked like. > Instead he 'sold' the warrant to John Brown who in turn > sold it to John Smith? John Smith is most likely going to be the fellow who checked out the land and put in a claim for a specific piece of land and requested the survey in order to turn the warrant into a deed of title. > Also, is a warrant the same as a land patent? No. A warrant is issued at the beginning of the process and the patent at the end. The warrant conveys the right to possess some land, some where. A patent grants right of ownership to a specific piece of land. But...I'm not a lawyer and this is not carved in stone but is merely my understanding of it all. Renee