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Search the Land Records from All States, , View Property Reports Now!
Much of western Virginia was settled by land speculators who formed land companies after 1744. Companies were awarded 1,000 acres of land for each family they moved into the area. A survey was made of each parcel of land, and then a survey was sold to individuals who received title to the land by patent from the secretary of the colony. After 1779 the Virginia Land Office issued the patents.
Some western Virginia lands were issued in redemption of military bounty-land warrants from Revolutionary War soldiers. While some soldiers settled the land they were granted, many sold their warrants to individuals or speculators.
Original state land grants, sales, and surveys for West Virginia are housed at the Office of State Auditor, Capitol Building, West Wing 231, Charleston, West Virginia 25305. Records on file at the Virginia State Library are also valuable for the colonial period.
When originally patented land was sold, the transaction was recorded in county deed books. Usually, deed books are indexed individually, and most West Virginia counties have general indexes to grantees and grantors to facilitate research. Copies of deeds can be obtained from county clerks or clerks of the circuit court; however, most county records in West Virginia have been microfilmed and are available at the Archives and History Library in Charleston and the FHL. County clerks are not always receptive to written inquiries, but records are open for research in person.
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Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
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. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems. E. Wade Hone,
In Land and Property Research in the United States
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).
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