Resources for Family & Community History

Land Records

French land grant

MISSOURI LAND PATENT RECORDS

Township School land, 1820-1900
Seminary and Saline land, 1820-1825
Swamp land, 1850-1945
500,000 acre grant, 1843-1951

FRENCH & SPANISH LAND GRANTS, 1790-1803

At various times between the 1680s and 1803, French and Spanish governments controlled the land of the Upper Mississippi from which the state of Missouri would later be formed. During that time, land grants were issued to settlers in the area. The United States' purchase of the area in 1803 gave rise to contentious and often bitter struggle over actual ownership of many tracts of land.

This collection contains the grants of land from the French and Spanish governments, as well as records from various U.S. land offices which determined ownership of the land after the Louisiana Purchase. Many of the documents in this collection date through the 1860s.

UNITED STATES LAND SALES, 1818-1903

(consists of 26 volumes)

These records give the legal land description of land purchased from the U.S. government between 1818 and 1903. The legal land description gives the name of the purchaser, amount of land purchased, section, township, and range numbers for locating actual site of land. There is an alphabetical index available for each land sale volume.

More information about U.S. land sales, such as purchase price, can be obtained by writing to:

Bureau of Land Management
Eastern States Office
7450 Boston Boulevard
Springfield, VA 22153
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov