Finding Aid for United States General Land Office Letters Patent Collection, 1793-1879 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

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Collection Overview

Title: United States General Land Office Letters Patent Collection, 1793-1879

Collection identifier: 349

Primary Creator: United States General Land Office

Extent: 0.5 cubic feet

Subjects: Fayette County--Vandalia (Ill.), Gallatin County--Shawneetown (Ill.), Illinois--Politics and government, Madison County--Edwardsville (Ill.), Military, Property, Randolph County--Kaskaskia (Ill.), Rock Island County--Milan (Ill.), United States--Politics and government, United States. General Land Office, Vermilion County--Danville (Ill.), Washington (D.C.)

Forms of Material: Government records

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains over six dozen letters patent issued by the United States General Land Office, which enabled the grantees to obtain tracts of public land. Many of the grantees had received bounty land for military service. The letters patent in this collection document land grants in the Midwest, primarily in Illinois. In addition, the collection contains a photocopy of a Commonwealth of Kentucky land grant of 1793. The letters patent typically include the grantee's name and current county of residence or military rank and company, a description of the location and quantity of land, the act of Congress under which the land was granted, the district land office responsible for the sale of the land, and the associated certificate or warrant number. They were signed in the name of the president at the time the land was granted (in 1833, Congress authorized a secretary to sign land grants in the name of the president, but prior to that the president signed them himself).

Subject/Index Terms

Fayette County--Vandalia (Ill.)
Gallatin County--Shawneetown (Ill.)
Illinois--Politics and government
Madison County--Edwardsville (Ill.)
Military
Property
Randolph County--Kaskaskia (Ill.)
Rock Island County--Milan (Ill.)
United States--Politics and government
United States. General Land Office
Vermilion County--Danville (Ill.)
Washington (D.C.)

Administrative Information

Repository: Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

Acquisition Source: This collection was organized in 1967 from letters patent in the "Land Settlement in the Middle West" collection. Supplementary materials were donated by Walter DeVolld of St. Helena, California; Harold Felty of Champaign, Illinois; Jerry Hasselburg of Loda, Illinois; Ethel W. Ijams of Champaign, Illinois; Sharen Kloster of St. Joseph, Illinois; Steve Lozanoff of St. Petersburg, Florida; and Eula Rose Martin of Lizton, Indiana. Material also was added from the William E. Lodge Collection. The collection was reorganized in December 1989 and January 2015.

Box/Folder List

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/ihlcsfa/us-gen-land-office-ltrs-patent.pdf

PDF finding aid for United States General Land Office Letters Patent Collection