For further information regarding case files and how to order them, read the article Locating the Land and Its Associated Records. While not all files have pertinent information for the researcher, they are often worth obtaining. Some of these files may contain valuable family information such as proof of citizenship, former residences, birthplaces and more. Federal land purchases are contained in land entry case files held at the National Archives. Illinois is termed a Federal land state (public domain), and the government granted land through cash sales, homesteads, military bounty land warrants as well as granting other claims such as mining and timberland claims. The first general land office to serve Illinois was at Kaskaskia, which opened for land sales to the general public in 1814. This unclaimed land became the public domain, was surveyed, divided into townships (36 square miles), range and section (one square mile within the township) and then sold through land offices. When the area that is now Illinois became part of the United States, a few prior land claims by early pioneers were settled in the courts, though most of the land was unclaimed. When examinations were completed in 1814, federal authorities had confirmed title to less than half of the claims presented to them.” (quoted from Illinois State Archives Genealogical Research Series Pamphlet No. After the United States established its control over Illinois in 1784, the federal government eventually began a review process to determine the legitimacy of preexisting land claims. “Throughout these periods, respective government agents registered land transactions. Without moving, these settlers were in the Northwest Territory, Indiana Territory, Illinois Territory and finally the State of Illinois in 1818. If you are new to land research, you may wish to read the Beginner’s corner and other articles included on the United States Land and Property page.īefore 1787, settlers in what is now Illinois lived in an area once controlled by France (1678-1763), Spain, Great Britain (1763-1778) or Virginia (1778-1784). For detailed descriptions of land record types see United States Land and Property. Records from federal and state offices can also have genealogical value. Family history researchers usually use land records from county offices. The transactions were recorded at the office of the county register of deeds. Later when the land was sold or mortgaged by private owners the document was called a deed. The first sale of a piece of land from the government was called a land patent and the first owner of the land was called a patentee. Illinois was a “federal-land” state, where unclaimed land was surveyed, then granted or sold by the government through federal and state land offices. Land records can be used to learn where and when an individual lived in certain areas, and often reveal useful and interesting family information. Therefore,they are a consistent and continuous record of many ancestors' lives. The value of land records lies in the fact that land was highly sought after and the transactions were recorded from the time settlers began to arrive.
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