Outline for

U. S. Land Records:
A Basic Survey
A talk prepared for the
West Stake Family History Conference
September 2015
by
Dr William M Litchman
Land Records
Possession of land is one of the more powerful forces in human society. It drives
emigration, family stability, and communal behavior. It is a prime cause of dispute among human
beings: families, tribes, nations no group, large or small, is exempt from this driving urge.
William Dollarhide has written: Written evidence of people's entitlement to land and
property goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record a genealogist might
use. Extant land records in Denmark, for example, go back to 900 AD. The earliest tax records in
England, which name even the smallest land-holders the Doomsday Books date back to the
era of the Norman Conquest, 1066-1096 AD. Of all the historical records of interest to
genealogists, land records cover the longest span of time in which a researcher may prove that a
person lived in a certain place at a certain time.
The Use of Land Records in Genealogy
In America, land and property records apply to more people than any other type of written
record. It is estimated that by th emid-1800s, as many as ninety percent of all adult white males
owned land in the US (50% today). Therefore, before 1850, the lists of landowners that can be
extracted from any county's grantee/grantor indexes are the most complete lists of residents that
exist for a county.
In tandem with other records, many of which may have succombed to the ravages of
time, land records can solve more genealogical research problems or at least point the way to a
solution for more families than any other single record group. The researcher who never ventures
into land records, either on the federal level or the county level, will find his/her job made much
easier by learning more and more about what is available and waiting for them when they do
venture forth.
Land records, the deeds held by county courthouses all over this country, contain a record
of land transfers between individuals. Most are indexed by seller (grantor) or buyer (grantee) or
both. Forced sales, deeds of gift, mortgages, trusts, estates, all are recorded in the records of land
transfers.
Even more can be found because land is only one example of real property. Slaves were
held as chattel (real property) and so records of slave sales can be found within the deed record

of a county. Contracts between land owners and share croppers are often found there. In fact,
much of the life of most families in the US is documented in the offices of county land registrars.
It is surprisingly easy to access and use these legal documents, even though there are
technical terms and convoluted English grammar in the wording of agreements. Most deeds are
very simple and straight-forward in their intent. Some may even show occupations, relationships,
or intentions for emigrating or arrival in the text.
Without exploring the deed record for a family, close neighbors (in-laws, business
associates, fellow church members and other closely related families and individuals) may be
missed. By the placement of the family land, the reasons for surprising love affairs, or other less
admirable relationships may become clear. Understanding families often requires exploring the
whole breadth of the available documents of life.
Land Records Fall into Two General Categories
All land transactions are either 1) between the prime land owner (the government, ruler,
proprietors, or governing board) and the first private person or group to obtain a plot of land or
2) a subsequent sale or gift of that land to another private person or group. This distinction is
important because it involves the jurisdiction for the agency responsible for holding the records
involved. In the first case, the government (federal government, state, or provincial body) is the
responsible body, and in the second case, it is primarily the county in all US states.
The talk will cover the major methods by which the federal government has disposed of
the vast quantities of land available within the US and where those records are kept. The sort of
information held in each sort of record will be outlined. These transfer documents and the related
material are known as patents or grants with their surveys, notes, and certificates and are held
either by the National Archives or the state archives, library, or historical society. As is obvioius
from the descriptions, there are multiple groups of documents associated with each sale or
transfer even if that sale or transfer ended up as unsuccessful. Homesteads are only a small part
of the whole array of source materials.
Further land transactions between two private persons or groups will be discussed with
examples of deeds showing the form and shape of such documents with examples of the kind of
information found therein. Two basic methods of describing the shape, size, and location of the
land being transferred are metes and bounds and the quadrangular method. Both are relatively
straight-forward in their use and can be understood with only a little explanation. The several
types of deeds (warranty, quit claim, trust, mortgage, gift, etc) will be discussed.
The Scott Family of Worcester county, Massachusetts, and Hancock county, Maine
The deeds relating to the move of the Nathaniel Scott family of Ward, Worcester county,
Massachusetts, to Deer Isle, Hancock county, Maine in 1785-6 will be discussed showing the
value of the deed record in enhancing the information contained in other sources. When other
sources fail, the deed record is most likely to be the most common surviving document group.