Tuesday's Tip

Land Records

The United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management website has a treasure trove of information for genealogists. It is a time intensive and an educational trove for anyone who is interested in learning about land records and the history of public lands. Since I have been researching my paternal great grandparents, William Alfred Lee and Emma Meadows, I have wondered why they migrated from Alabama to Louisiana. There were events that I have uncovered while researching the Lee family, and one of those events could have been the reason for them leaving Alabama. However, I could not find the evidence to prove why they migrated. I thought possibly the Lee family migrated to Louisiana because of cheap land for sale.

I have reconnected with two of my Lee second cousins once removed and over the years we have shared research notes and family stories. Recently one of my Lee cousins messaged to tell me that she had land information for William Alfred Lee, her great great grandfather, and that she would email it to me. Well, I did the genealogy happy dance? This was a great find, and answered the question I have asked since I have been researching the W. A. Lee family. Did they own land? This is my first rich find for land records. With the assistance of my husband, I went to the Bureau of Land Management website. He has taught classes on using land records in researching our ancestors.

My cousin acquired the land information from another Lee cousin. He took a trip to the Jackson Parish Courthouse to look through the land records. He found the conveyance record for the W. A. Lee land in Jackson Parish, Louisiana. My cousin sent me the land description, not the actual conveyance record. I will soon make a courthouse trip and acquire of copy of the conveyance record. And make a trip to Ouachita Parish Courthouse to check out land records there. The cousin who found the record lives near the plot of land that W. A. owned, and wasn’t aware he owned the land or the location of the land until he found the record.

Armed with the new land information, I went to the Bureau of Land Management website , put in the location, land description and clicked on search patents. The results came up and the Accession number was LA1280 .356 Duke, Charles the date 5/10/1898, Doc# 7812, LA then the township range 015N-001E, then the Aliquots NE1/4, Section # 14, County Jackson.

You then click on the image and a copy of the certificate comes up, then you may print a copy of the certificate. 

When I put in the land description, the patent search results gave me a name for the original owner of the land, Charles Duke. Charles was issued the land May 10, 1898. When I looked at the Patent Details I noticed this was a Homestead Entry Original. You can check out the history of Our Record Keeping History here. Public Lands History Timeline here. Surveys takes you to the original survey description. Also, a map of the township is shown.

If you click on the Patent Details on that page where the copy of the certificate is, there are details of the land with a map. Where the words Land Description is on that same page, directly below those words, there is the word Map. Click on Map and the township map comes up. This is where you can use Irfranview to snip a copy of the map and save to your computer, or use the Snipping Tool that is installed on your computer.

This is my first rich find for land records. Learning how to use land description to plot out your ancestor’s property and locate it on a map isn’t difficult. It lets you see your ancestor in the context of his surroundings such as churches, schools and physical features of the land. Once you discover where your ancestor’s land located then you can take a virtual tour on Google Earth.

The question of did William Alfred Lee own land has been answered. Now my next three projects are to research Charles Duke to see if he is connected to the Lee family, make a courthouse trip to the Jackson Parish Courthouse to get a copy of the original conveyance record and any other records available, and make a courthouse trip to the Ouachita Parish Courthouse to look for land records for W. A. Lee in Ouachita Parish. Research for this project is ongoing.