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Search the Land Records from All States, View Property Reports Now!
Indiana is a public-domain state. Following a 1795 treaty with the native residents, the first strip of land was surveyed in southeastern Indiana. In 1801 the Cincinnati Land Office was opened, the first such office to serve Indiana. Vincennes opened in 1807. Five additional land offices opened as demand increased, principally, following the conclusion of the War of 1812: Jeffersonville (1807), Brookville (1819 - moved to Indianapolis in 1825), Terre Haute (1820 - moved to Crawfordsville before 1828), Fort Wayne (1823), and LaPorte (1833 - moved to Winamac in 1839). Registers are available on microfilm at Indiana State Archives, Allen County Public Library and through FHL. Although not all are indexed, some have been published. Land was usually sold for under $2 per acre, was frequently sold at public auction, and could be purchased on an installment basis. Land patents were issued by the United States government when the total purchase price had been paid. Frequently, the documents recorded at the land offices included the purchaser's "outside of Indiana" residence. Original land records for the years 1805-76, plus microfilmed copies, are at the Indiana State Library, Archives Division.
Private land claims, which are first-title deeds surveyed outside the regular federal system of townships and ranges, also existed in Indiana. The legal description of these lands are in lot numbers assigned by the governor. The parcels of land are frequently long and narrow, giving each owner access to an adjacent river or road. Patents, copies of tract books, and township plats are available through the BLM Eastern States Office. Land-entry case files are at the National Archives.
National Archives/Great Lakes Region has records of the General Land Office for Indiana 1808-76. This includes the cash certificate books denoting completion of purchase of land from the federal government. They are arranged chronologically by land office.
A grant of land was provided for George Rogers Clark and his men for their service in the Revolutionary War. The property was situated in what is now Scott, Floyd, and Clark counties. Clarksville, established in 1784 on the northern bank of the Ohio River and within the grant, was the first American town to be laid out in the northwest. Most land owned by individuals prior to 1800 was either in Clark's Grant or at Vincennes. At Vincennes, between 1779 and 1783, the court would grant land, usually 400 acres, to every American immigrant who wanted property.
The recorder's office of the county courthouses has grantor and grantee indexes, land transfers, deeds, titles, mortgages (and releases and assignments of mortgages), and tract books of original land purchases from the U.S. government. The tract books include name of purchaser, purchase date, location (section number, township, and range), and number of acres.
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Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems. E. Wade Hone,
In Land and Property Research in the United States
U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3
The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.
Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.
Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.
The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA).
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