Locate Land Records in the BLM"s General Land Office Records
The U.S. General Land Office (GLO) was established in 1812 to handle the business associated with the sale of public lands for private ownership, transforming the wilderness of America into productive agricultural land, and generating income for the Federal government. In essence, the GLO was the "Gateway to Land Ownership" for millions of Americans. The GLO was later succeeded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1946, but still operates as a division within the BLM, and continues to oversee land transactions recording the initial transfer of land from the federal government to an individual.
What You'll Find
The Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) website provides searchable access to Federal land conveyance records for the thirty Public Land States. This includes digitized image access to more than five million Federal land title records (patents) issued between 1820 and 1908. The majority of these are from the Eastern Public Land States which encompass the present-day states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
In addition to the Federal land title records, the GLO website also has images for survey plats and field notes, dating back to 1810.
What You Won't Find
The GLO website only includes information on federal land transactions in the public land states. It does NOT include land records for the original thirteen colonies (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia) and their territories (now the states of Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Vermont and West Virginia), or Hawaii and Texas.
These states, known as State Land States, were never in the federal public domain (meaning the land never belonged to the United States government), and land records are in the hands of each individual state. It also does not include documents (deeds) recording the sale of land from one individual to another individual.
To search the online land records, begin by selecting the big Search Documents link on the green navigation bar. This takes you to the main search page demonstrated in the next step.
Note: The GLM is continually adding to the documents available on its website, but does not currently contain every land title record issued by the U.S. government.
The most common way to search the GLO website is to search by Name. Select the Search Documents By Type tab (this is the default screen), and then select the specific land record type you are looking for. Available record types include Patents, Survey Plats, Field Notes and Land Status Records.
When searching the GLO database, keep in mind the following:
A Note About Wildcards: The GLO website allows the use of wildcards to help find variations on spellings. Some search fields (like patentee and warrantee name) let you enter a partial name, using a special "wildcard" character to replace the characters you are not certain of.
Search for Patents
Land Patents are Federal conveyance documents created on the initial transfer of land titles from the Federal government to individuals. This includes land purchased under a variety of different government land acts, including cash entry, credit, homestead, military warrants, private land claims, Indian patents, mineral certificates, etc.
These are the most commonly used records on the GLO website.
To search for patents:
Search for Survey Plats
A land survey is the process of measuring, locating, and marking certain locations on a piece of land. The survey records available from the GLO are U.S. government records generated by survey of new public lands. Survey field notes are completed by the surveyor as the survey is performed, and include a detailed description of the survey process. A survey plat is a graphical "map" of a particular survey's boundaries, prepared from information contained in the sketches and field notes. The plat serves as the official documentation of a survey.
Survey data on the GLO website is organized based on the location of the surveyed land (e.g. its state, county, meridian, township/range) and the type of the survey. Plats and field notes are, in turn, associated with a specific survey record. Thus, no matter which type of survey record you are looking for, you will begin your search by locating the survey.
To search for surveys:
Search for Land Status Records
While of greater historical than strictly genealogical interest, land status records on the GLO website are available for several Western states, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Land Status Records are used to document the ongoing state of a particular township's Federal and private land, including land titles, leases, rights, and usage. Records available include Master Title Plats which are a composite of all Federal surveys for a township, and Historical Indices, or chronological records of all past and present actions (patents, leases, etc.) that have affected land within a township.
To search for land status records:
What You'll Find
The Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) website provides searchable access to Federal land conveyance records for the thirty Public Land States. This includes digitized image access to more than five million Federal land title records (patents) issued between 1820 and 1908. The majority of these are from the Eastern Public Land States which encompass the present-day states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
In addition to the Federal land title records, the GLO website also has images for survey plats and field notes, dating back to 1810.
What You Won't Find
The GLO website only includes information on federal land transactions in the public land states. It does NOT include land records for the original thirteen colonies (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia) and their territories (now the states of Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Vermont and West Virginia), or Hawaii and Texas.
These states, known as State Land States, were never in the federal public domain (meaning the land never belonged to the United States government), and land records are in the hands of each individual state. It also does not include documents (deeds) recording the sale of land from one individual to another individual.
How to Use the BLM General Land Office Records Website
The BLM's General Land Office Records site can be accessed online at the following URL:www.glorecords.blm.gov
To search the online land records, begin by selecting the big Search Documents link on the green navigation bar. This takes you to the main search page demonstrated in the next step.
Note: The GLM is continually adding to the documents available on its website, but does not currently contain every land title record issued by the U.S. government.
The most common way to search the GLO website is to search by Name. Select the Search Documents By Type tab (this is the default screen), and then select the specific land record type you are looking for. Available record types include Patents, Survey Plats, Field Notes and Land Status Records.
When searching the GLO database, keep in mind the following:
- You are not required to fill in all of the fields. Sometimes less is more. Fields that you leave empty are ignored.
- You can get a brief description of what each field means by hovering your mouse over it.
- Select "Any State" from the bottom of any state dropdown menu to search all states at once.
A Note About Wildcards: The GLO website allows the use of wildcards to help find variations on spellings. Some search fields (like patentee and warrantee name) let you enter a partial name, using a special "wildcard" character to replace the characters you are not certain of.
- % - The percent sign ("%") will match any number of characters (0 or more) in the search field. This can be used, for example, to find all names (first or last) beginning with a certain letter.
- _ - The underscore ("_") matches any one single character.
Search for Patents
Land Patents are Federal conveyance documents created on the initial transfer of land titles from the Federal government to individuals. This includes land purchased under a variety of different government land acts, including cash entry, credit, homestead, military warrants, private land claims, Indian patents, mineral certificates, etc.
These are the most commonly used records on the GLO website.
To search for patents:
- Select a state.
- Once you have selected a state, the following fields will be populated: county, meridian, land office, militia, tribe, and authority.
- Enter the name of the individual you're looking for. Alternatively you can enter nothing in this field to search all patents in a particular county or state.
Search for Survey Plats
A land survey is the process of measuring, locating, and marking certain locations on a piece of land. The survey records available from the GLO are U.S. government records generated by survey of new public lands. Survey field notes are completed by the surveyor as the survey is performed, and include a detailed description of the survey process. A survey plat is a graphical "map" of a particular survey's boundaries, prepared from information contained in the sketches and field notes. The plat serves as the official documentation of a survey.
Survey data on the GLO website is organized based on the location of the surveyed land (e.g. its state, county, meridian, township/range) and the type of the survey. Plats and field notes are, in turn, associated with a specific survey record. Thus, no matter which type of survey record you are looking for, you will begin your search by locating the survey.
To search for surveys:
- Select a state.
- Once you've selected a state, you may choose to further filter by county, meridian, or surveyor. For help in locating meridians, the GLO has an online Map of the Principal Meridians and Baselines.
Search for Land Status Records
While of greater historical than strictly genealogical interest, land status records on the GLO website are available for several Western states, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Land Status Records are used to document the ongoing state of a particular township's Federal and private land, including land titles, leases, rights, and usage. Records available include Master Title Plats which are a composite of all Federal surveys for a township, and Historical Indices, or chronological records of all past and present actions (patents, leases, etc.) that have affected land within a township.
To search for land status records:
- Select a state.
- Once you have selected a state, you can further filter by county or meridian.
- From any of the results pages, select the "Related Documents" tab to bring up the related patents based on the land description from the current Land Status Record.
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