Ancestors and first title from the federal government: Background

Ancestors obtaining first title to government land in most midwestern and western states purchased or received the land through U.S. government land offices. The processes that individuals undertook were created to manage disbursement of land owned by the federal government to individuals. The government obtained the land through cession of claims by the original 13 states (the Old Northwest, for example), purchase from foreign governments (lands of the Louisiana Purchase), or cession/purchase by treaty (the Southwest after the Mexican-American War). The government's initial goals were to sell the land to citizens and to raise money to retire the national debt.

Survey and description of land occurred before public land sales. The method had to be systematic and not as prone to confusion in comparison to metes and bounds surveys. The system developed and used for most surveys was the U.S. Public Land, or Rectangular Survey. The government or land companies used other rectangular-type survey systems in parts of Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia and a few other states. Rectangular survey allows more consistent land description and typically involves right angles to delineate land parcels. Surveyors resorted to metes and bounds methods only for irregular ground or to subdivide larger parcels.

The basic unit in the system is a township, which is a square 6 miles on each side. The system divides each township into 36, 1-square-mile sections. Township numbering is in relation to their position and direction from a north-south meridian and east-west baselines. All surveys in Missouri progress from one meridian, the 5th Principal Meridian, and a baseline located in northern Arkansas. The north-south component is (confusingly) termed a Township, the east-west component a Range. So, a township numbered Township 31 North, Range 14 East is 31, 6-mile-square townships north of the base line, and 14, 6-mile square townships east of the principal meridian. Sections are numbered 1 to 36, with Section 1 in the northeast corner of the township. Numbering of sections proceeds west, down a mile to Section 7, then east, and so forth so that Section 36 is in the southeast corner of the township.

Land survey progressed slowly in some areas, including Missouri, delayed initially by the War of 1812, and not completed until about 1860 in the swampy land of the Bootheel. Oftentimes, settlers squatted on public land during the delay in surveying. They began to demand Congress recognize their right to the land where they settled, termed "preemption rights." Congress responded with a series of preemption laws, and depending on the time and place, purchase of the land might generate files of purchaser statements, affidavits documenting the date of settlement and improvements made on the land, and other details.

Next, land offices made the plat of the survey available for public examination. Depending on the time and place, buyers could claim purchase right on preferred parcels, or the land office sold parcels at public auction. Prior to 1820, the law allowed sales of land on credit. This worked poorly, and cash sales replaced it.

States or counties sold three major types of federal land. First, Section 16 of every township (and sometimes other sections) were set aside from sale at the land office and ceded to the states, later counties, for sale to support public education. County courthouses hold these records, as well as state archives. In some states, Congress directed those saline lands containing salt deposits be leased by the states, and later released for sale by the states. Finally, areas identified as "swamp and overflow lands" proved difficult to sell because of their unsuitability for settlement. Congress ceded these lands to the states in 1850. Depending on the state, initial sales occurred at the state level, but states later ceded these problematic lands to counties. Thus, counties issued original patents to substantial acreage in our part of Missouri. Records are in county courthouses or held by the Missouri State Archives.

Land served as payment for military service from the Revolutionary War through the Mexican-American War. The government either offered the land as an enlistment benefit, or in later years as a bonus for serving. Congress directed the exact timing and process for obtaining this bounty land in a series of bounty land acts.

Those applying received a numbered warrant to exchange for land at land offices, as spelled out in the appropriate law. In many cases, widows of veterans could apply. The laws often authorized sale of the warrants by the veteran or his heirs as well. These warrants required application, and bounty land application files survive at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. These provide details of the veteran's service, proof of relationships in some cases, and other details.