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Filing Dates for Land Patents
I have the document for a land patent where the person received the land under the Timber Culture Act of 1873. The patent document for the 160 acres was signed on October 10, 1896. Does anyone know of an easy way to figure out when a person actually filed? The Timber Culture Act required 8 years of trees being planted. I would assume the settler filed at the local land office in 1888, but where is this information now kept today? The courthouse records only shows the transfer date from the government to the sttler in 1896.
The area is part of Section 35, T30N, R32W of 6th PM in Cherry County, Nebraska. The settler was Silas M. Waite.
BTW – I am finally here and will now make this my only surveying website to post things.
Cheers!
Jerry -
8 Replies
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Welcome!
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Jerry,
ALL of the documentation concerning individual Land Patents are contained in the “Patent Package” (my terminolgy, NOT the GLO/BLM). These are generally ONLY found in the National Archives in Washington D.C.
I have “pulled” a couple of these on Mineral Patents in the past, and they are amazingly COMPLETE and comprehensive. I don’t think that the BLM maintains much (if any) of this “supporting” documentaion (just the actual Patents), so the National Archives might be your only source.
Loyal
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Loyal
That is great knowledge to have even though access to this information is somewhat difficult. I’ve known more than one person who thought that the first homesteader of a particular tract “arrived” at the location on the date that the patent was issued since that is the only date on the filed document.
Thanks,
Jerry -
Jerry
I just pulled one out of an old file, and have it here in front of me.
It is a SIMPLE Lode Claim in this case, but it contains over FIFTY pages of documents (receipts, affidavits, certificates, exhibits, maps, field notes, letters, correspondence between the GLO and the claimants attorneys, even Newspaper clips concerning Public Notice).
These are fairly easy to obtain IF you know the right person to contact at the National Archives in D.C. Unfortunately all of my old contacts have retired.
Drop me an Email if you would like more information.
Loyal
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Loyal
One clue that settlers were there before patent is the ties to cabins and calls like enter cultivated field and leave cultivated field in the original government field notes. 🙂
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Dave
That’s a FACT!
I was just discussing the “Patent Package” (and it’s usual contents) with a BLM Real Estate Specialist just this morning. Although not something that a Surveyor would usually NEED when doing a “Land Survey,” sometimes this data is invaluable.
Loyal
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Good to see Penry on this board. I didn’t want to have to go hunting for his posts & pix at the other place.
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this is a good place to start, but I agree with Loyal. If you want the actual details of the transaction from the govm’t to a private individual you will most likely need to get them from the D.C. Archives
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