Texas Land Records

See Also Researching in Land Records - Land records provide two types of important evidence for the genealogist. Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. Most beginning genealogists underestimate the importance of using land records to pin persons to specific locales. In the South, which has far fewer vital records than New England, the land records are even more crucial to genealogical success. For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to Land records......

Texas land records were created under various governmental jurisdictions in the course of including Spain, Mexico, and both the Republic and State of Texas. Eleven land districts, each encompassing a number of counties, were established in 1836 under the Republic of Texas, and a central General Land Office was organized at Austin. The first district office was located near the Red River. The others were at San Augustine, Liberty, Nacogdoches, Matagorda, Washington-on-the Brazos, Cameron, Bastrop, Gonzales, San Antonio, and Victoria. A system of land districts continued when Texas became a state with previous grants being acknowledged. Nearly 150,000,000 acres of state public land in Texas were disposed of after 1836. Texas is not a federal public land state, consequently, there are no federal government original land records. Texas' General Land Office continues to maintain its own archives and records division, housing all early land grants including those dated in the 1700s and original grants issued by both republic and state governments. Indexes to the original land records are maintained by the General Land Office, Stephen F. Austin State Office Building, Room 800, 1700 North Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701-1495 (512-463-5277). Correspondence requests for index entries for an individual name with arrival date and county is a service provided for a minimum fee, with normal response time about two weeks. Among the various types of original grants were:

Headright grants - Issued to encourage immigration but were not awarded to black or native Americans. Organized in several classes, these headright grants were issued between 1836 and 1842 to individuals and families who settled in Texas.

• Class 1 are Spanish or Mexican grants issued to settlers whose arrival was before 2 March 1836. Land allotted was one league and one labor per family or one-third league for unmarried men.
• Class Headright 2 grants were given to those who arrived after 2 March 1836 and before 1 October 1837. They received 1,280 acres per family or half that for unmarried men with a requirement of three years residence.
• Class 3 grants for headrights are dated from 2 October 1837 to 1 January 1840, with the same acreage allotments as Class 2 Grants.
• Class headrights 4 grants were issued between 1 January 1840 and 1 January 1842; acreage given was equal to that of the Class 2 and Class 3 grants. Those awarded equivalent to Class 3 Headrights included colonists in Peters, Mercer, Castro, and Fisher-Miller colonies.

Pre-emption (squatter) grants - Issued between 22 January 1845 and 1854 for no more than 320 acres. Minimum requirement was residence on a particular parcel for three consecutive years after 22 January 1845. After 1854 the acreage limit was 160 for married men and for single men half that after 1870. The last pre-emption grant was issued in 1898.

Bounty grants - Issued from 1837 through 1888 for various acreage in payment for military service to the Republic. The number of acres granted varies as several legislatures modified requirements. Participants in any battle qualified. Later donation lands were awarded to widows and surviving (as of 1881) veterans. Eligibility was limited to one grant. Scrip, a means of awarding or selling public land, was granted disabled Confederate veterans, railroads, canals, roads, mills, and factories.

Contracted granted. Both the Republic and State of Texas contracted with various individuals to establish colonies in Texas and receive payment in land. Large grants were made directly to contractors, although individual grants of 640 acres were also given to heads of families and 320 acres to single men.

Miller's work, cited below, gives a complete account of the acquisition and disposition of public land in Texas to 1970. Fraudulent claims and legislation enacted to address these problems are discussed in Miller's volume.

A series of The First Settlers in [County], Texas volumes were compiled by Gifford E. White. These entries were copied from originals in the General Land Office and often include maps. Most were published by Ingmire Publications, St. Louis, Missouri, between 1981-84. A few were published elsewhere. The state land office has microfilmed copies of federal land sales to individuals up through the 1900s. Only original sales are maintained by state; all other subsequent sales are under county jurisdiction. See Also:

• Abstract of Land Claims, Compiled From the Records of the General Land Office. Arranged alphabetically in districts, lists grants from Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the state.
• Abstracts of Land Titles of Texas Comprising the Titled, Patented, and Located Lands in the State. County arrangement for the period 1833 to 1877.
• An Abstract of the Original Titles of Records in the General Land Office. 1838.Covers headright grants for 1791 to 1836.
• Abstract of All Original Grants and Locations Comprising Texas Land Titles to August 32, 1945. 8 vols. Supplements A, B, C, D, E, F, G, & H. 8 vols. This set is somewhat difficult to locate. The General Land Offices does sell out-of-print volumes on microfiche. The first volume has been reprinted as Texas Land Title Abstracts Volume 1-A. Paris, Tex.: The Wright Press, 1984.
• History and Disposition of Texas Public Domain.
• Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in the Chihuahuan Acquisition. Covers the counties of El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Reeves, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, and Brewer in Texas plus six more in adjacent New Mexico.
• Abstract of valid land claims: Compiled from the records of the General Land Office and Court of Claims, of the state of Texas.
• Nacogdoches headrights: A record of the disposition of land in east Texas and in other parts of that state, 1838-1848.
• Bounty and Donation Land Grants of Texas, 1835-1888.
• The Public Lands of Texas 1519-1970. Excellent source describing land records and land history in Texas.
• Texas Confederate Scrip Grantees, C.S.A.
• Republic of Texas Second Class Headrights, March 2, 1836-October 1, 1837.
• History of Texas Land. Austin, Tex
• Royal land grants north of the Rio Grande, 1777-1821;: Early history of large grants made by Spain to families in jurisdiction of Reynosa which became ... after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848. Concerns suits recorded in deed books containing the chain of title and lines of descent and heirship for the counties of Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, Kenedy, Brooks, Kleberg, and Nueces.
• Spanish Archives of the General Land Office of Texas.
• History of The Texas Family Land Heritage Registry. 10 vols. These are accounts of farms which have been in agricultural production for a century or more in the same family (not limited to agnate descents) and as such are rich in genealogical detail.
• Guide to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in South Texas.
• Character Certificates in the General Land Office of Texas.
• Stephen F. Austin's Register of Families from the Originals in the General Land Office, Austin, Texas.

Once land was initially granted, all succeeding land transactions fall under the jurisdiction of the county in which the land is located at the time each record is created. County boundaries have changed over time as have county names.By law, all deeds are indexed by grantor and by grantee. Transcribed deeds from parent counties may be maintained in separate volumes. County land transactions, including deeds and mortgages, are located at the respective county clerk's office.

Century farm records for those families who worked the same land for 100 years or more are available on microfilm at Department of Agriculture, “Century of Agriculture Program,” P. O. Box 12847, Austin, TX 78711

• Texas Land Books at Amazon.com
• Texas Land Title Abstracts: This database contains abstracts of original titles located in the archives of the Texas General Land Office in Austin, Texas.
• BLM Land Records
• Land Records from All States
• Search County Property Records
• Search County Land Patents

U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3

The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.

Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.

Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.

The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA) .