Land Patent Records Index

Lee County Iowa Genealogy

LAND PATENT RECORDS INDEX

Compiled and Contributed by Carol Griswold Salli, Gayle Kenniston & Sally Youngquist


       Anders-Ayres      Babcock-Barret     Barry-Bell     Benedict-Benedict       Benjamin-Booth      Boardwell-Brother

       Brown-Butler       Cadlwell-Casey        Cassidy- Conelly      Cook-Cutler     Daily-Doty       Doughtery-Dyer

      Eaton-Everhart      Fairleigh-Fitzpatrick      Flack-Funkhouser     Gandy-Gold       Golding-Gwen       Haas - Harris

      Harty - Hittle        Hobson - Hyter       Ingersol-Judy       Kasten-Kyle        Ladd-Leach     Leas-Lynch

      Mackenzie - Matthews      May - Myers      Mcater - Metzger       Nabor-Nourse       Oafelgunner-Owen     - P -    - No Q -

     Reeves - Russell        - S -    Tade - Tuttle       - No U -      Vale - Vrooman      - W -       - No X -       Yates - Young

     - No Z -


   (Carol finds that this list is not static & that additions are being made on the Land Office website)

Land Patent Search    Search for your name. It will be sometime before we get every name listed.
         If you find your information here, do a search and look at image of record. You may order the record too.

1.

What's a land patent?

Land patents document the transfer of land ownership from the federal government to individuals. Our land patent records include the information recorded when ownership was transferred.

2.

What are public lands?

.

The term public land means any lands and interest which title is still vested in the Federal Government. The Secretary of the Interior through the BLM administers those lands within the several states.

3.

How was the land sold or disposed of?

.

The land was disposed of by the authority of many acts of Congress - sale, homesteads, military warrants for military service, timber culture, mining, etc. One of the primary purposes of these public land laws was to encourage people from the East to move West. In the early 1800's people could buy public land for $1.25 an acre. For a time, they could buy up to 640 acres under this law. The sale of public land under the "Cash Act" is no longer in effect.

Several Military Warrant Acts granted public land to soldiers instead of pay. These acts have been repealed.

The Homestead Act of 1862, allowed people to settle up to 160 acres of public land if they lived on it for five years and grew crops or made improvements. This land did not cost anything per acre, but the settler did pay a filing fee. This act is no longer in effect.

4.

What is pre-emption?

.

Some patents have the word "Pre-emption"in the upper left-hand corner. "Pre-emption" was a tactful way of saying "squatter". In other words, the settler was physically on the property before the GLO officially sold or even surveyed the tract, and he was thus given a pre-emptive right to acquire the land from the United States.

5.

Why is there sometimes a long time period between purchase date and signature date?

Due to the tremendous amount of land sold in the 1800's, the General Land Office experienced quite a backlog in the middle part of the 19th century. It was not unusual for several years to pass between the time an individual purchased land from the local land office and the time a patent for that tract was finally signed by the GLO in Washington, D.C.

TOWNSHIPS

64-65 - - - - Jackson Township - Includes the town of Keokuk
Township 65 North ,Range 4 West, Part of Traditional Townships 64 & 65 North, Range 5 West and Part of Township 65 North,
Range 6 West of the 5th P. M.
65-66 - - - - Des Moines Township
Part of Township 65 North ,Range 6 West, and Part of Township 66 North, Range 6 & 7 West of the 5th P. M.
66 - - - - - - Montrose Township
Township 66 North, Range 4 & 5 West of the 5th P. M.
66-67 - - - - Van Buren Township
67 - - - - - - Charleston Township
Township 67 North, Range 6 West of the 5th P. M.
67 - - - - - - Jefferson Township
67 - - - - - - Madison Township - Includes the town of Ft Madison
68 - - - - - - Harrison Township
68 - - - - - - Franklin Township
68 - - - - - - West Point Township
68 - - - - - - Washington Township
68-69 - - - - Green Bay Township
69 - - - - - - Cedar Township
69 - - - - - - Marion Township
69 - - - - - - Pleasant Ridge
69 - - - - - - Denmark Township

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1.	What's a land patent?
	Land patents document the transfer of land ownership from the federal government to individuals. Our land patent records include the information recorded when ownership was transferred.

2.	What are public lands?
.	The term public land means any lands and interest which title is still vested in the Federal Government. The Secretary of the Interior through the BLM administers those lands within the several states.

4.	What is pre-emption?
.	Some patents have the word "Pre-emption"in the upper left-hand corner. "Pre-emption" was a tactful way of saying "squatter". In other words, the settler was physically on the property before the GLO officially sold or even surveyed the tract, and he was thus given a pre-emptive right to acquire the land from the United States.

5.	Why is there sometimes a long time period between purchase date and signature date?
	Due to the tremendous amount of land sold in the 1800's, the General Land Office experienced quite a backlog in the middle part of the 19th century. It was not unusual for several years to pass between the time an individual purchased land from the local land office and the time a patent for that tract was finally signed by the GLO in Washington, D.C.