One of the most fantastic real estate deals of all time was made in 1803 when the infant United States acquired 544 million acres from France for the sum of $15 million. The land of the famous Louisiana Purchase was bought for approximately three cents per acre.
By the Act of March 26, 1804, Congress divided Louisiana into two parts: the territory of Louisiana and the territory of Orleans. The territory of Louisiana consisted of that area above the 33rd degree latitude, and the territory of Orleans covered that part below the 33rd latitude, or what is now basically the state of Louisiana.
The governor and his legislative council used the powers granted by the act to divide the territory of Orleans into twelve counties: Acadia, Attakapas, Concordia, German Coast, Iberville, Lafourche, Natchitoches, Opelousas, Orleans, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, and Rapides.
In 1807 the territory was redivided into nineteen parishes. These boundaries followed the old ecclesiastical boundaries used by the Spaniards. When Louisiana became a state in 1812 the state constitution referred to both counties and parishes. By the time of the 1845 state constitution the term counties had been dropped and Louisiana became the only state to use the term parishes.
An act of congress of 2 March 1805 gave three important provisions:
First, it allowed individuals to obtain legal possession of their land or to acquire land. Congress appointed district land registers and opened the United Stated District Land Office in New Orleans for the eastern division of the territory of Orleans and a land office at Opelousas for the western division of the territory of Orleans. Later, for the convenience of inhabitants, other land offices were opened in Ouachita, Natchitoches, and Greensburg. These land districts are still used today for identifying land by districts.
Second, inhabitants with French, Spanish, or British land grants had to appear before a board of commissioners with their proof of ownership. If approved by the board the evidence was then forwarded on to Washington.
Third, surveyors were to go to the territory of Orleans to establish a system of subdividing the vacant public lands. By 1807 the United States surveyors had established a meridian and base line. Thus Louisiana land measurements changed from metes and bounds to section, township, and range.
Colonial grants can be found in various Louisiana parishes and in France, Spain, and England. As has been shown, after the Louisiana Purchase people had to prove their land ownership. American State Papers: Documents Legislative and Executive of the United States, 32 vols., Public Lands, 7 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Gales and Seaton, 1832-1861) is the best source for these re-patented lands. A guide to these papers is Phillip W. McMullin, Grassroots of America (Salt Lake City: Gendex Corp., 1972).
The state land office and the offices of clerks of courts in the parish courthouses have state and federal tract books listing the original landowners. These books are not in alphabetical order; the land record itself will have to be obtained from the State Land Office in Baton Rouge or from the National Archives Division, Bureau of Land Management, Suitland, Maryland.
Land records may be found in notarial records or deeds. Each of the early communities had its own notary public that drafted wills, deeds, marriage contracts, and all estate papers. These transactions were filed loosely, and numbered consecutively as they happened, regardless of the type of record. Many of these records are now in the clerk's office in the parish courthouse, some are in the state archives in Baton Rouge, and the Notarial Archives of New Orleans are in the Civil Courts Building in New Orleans. Other land records in the courthouses will be found in the conveyance books.
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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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