Arkansas Land Records
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When Missouri Territory, encompassing the present state of Arkansas, was established in 1812, the United States government agreed to acknowledge private land previously granted by Spain and Mexico. Two grants were also awarded to previous French claims.
The largest percentage of Spanish and Mexican grants were located in the present-day counties of Arkansas and Desha. Preemption rights were acknowledged in 1814, and private land claims were heard by land commissions. Spanish control of land was loose, and many officials and landowners failed to comply with regulations, resulting in continuous claim problems, some extending for forty years after statehood. At times, no surveys were conducted for these grants. Frequently forgeries were made of the governor's signature on land grants, resulting in a high percentage of fraudulent claims. Early Spanish land claims and the original tract book are available at the National Archives and the FHL.
A French measurement term used in some Spanish grants is “arpents”; one arpent is a little more than four-fifths of an acre. Most early land grants to heads of household were for parcels of 800 arpents, or approximately sixty-eight acres. An additional parcel of fifty arpents or about forty-two acres was awarded for each child.
Between 1803 and 1836, Native Americans were forced to cede their lands in Arkansas and move west. As the federal government acquired land, it was made available for settlement. Territorial land transactions began in 1803 for the Arkansas District (part of Louisiana Territory until 1812 when the district became part of Missouri Territory) and in 1819, when it became Arkansas Territory. First Settlers of the Missouri Territory, 2 vols. (Nacogdoches, Tex.: Ericson Books, 1983), lists early land grants in Arkansas. Originally negotiated by William Lovely as cession land, Lovely Purchase Donation Claims generated from the private sale of land for the present-day area of northwest Arkansas are grouped and microfilmed along with disputed Spanish land claims and the original tract book. Bounty land for War of 1812 service was distributed by lottery.
The first land office was established in 1818 with the GLO ordering a survey of sixty townships. The first survey was finished in 1819, but no land was actually sold until 1821. Land offices opened at Arkansas Post and Davidsonville in 1820 were soon moved to Little Rock and Batesville, respectively.
Arkansas Historical Records - Databases include Arkansas Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Arkansas Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Arkansas Voter Lists & Census Records; Arkansas Immigration & Emigration Records; Arkansas Obituary Records; Arkansas Military Records; Arkansas Family Tree Records; Arkansas Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Arkansas Directories & Member Lists and much more....
In 1832 Congress divided the territory into four land districts. Two additional land offices were then opened at Fayetteville and Washington. Increased demand for land led to additional offices at Helena and Clarksville before 1840, followed by Champagnole before 1850 and Huntsville in the next decade. New land offices appeared by 1870 at Camden, Dardanelle, and Harrison. But, between 1880 and 1900 the only land offices open in all of Arkansas were those located in Camden, Dardanelle, Harrison, and Little Rock. The latter remained open until 1933.
After the initial acquisition, all subsequent land transfers are recorded at the county seat through the county clerk's office.
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- Arkansas Land Records: The patentee was the first owner of property after the initial survey. Once the patent was issued, the land became private property and was then sold with a deed. The townships, the six-mile-square land blocks which were the original divisions of land from the federal land grants, were then divided into 36 one-mile squares. The township numbering was the north-south numbering, starting from the center line. The range numbering was the east-west numbering, starting from the center line. The section is the one-mile-square portion (approximately 640 acres) of a township. That was was also generally divided into 36 equal squares (each of which might be divided another 36 times).
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We provide remote access of Arkansas land records. Search land records and deeds records in Arkansas and obtain copies of Arkansas historical records such as land, property, deeds and mortgage records in the State of Arkansas.
