Illinois Land Records
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In 1791 a special act of Congress gave 400 acres to those who were heads of families in the year 1783 at Vincennes or in the Illinois country. This included the region west of Vincennes, Indiana, across the Wabash River. A later act in 1813 provided pre-emption rights to land occupied in the state.
But the major land disbursements in Illinois occurred based on its status as a public-domain state. The first General Land Office opened at Kaskaskia in 1804 and began selling land ten years later. There were a total of ten land districts. The BLM Eastern States Office has patents, tract books, and township plats. Land-entry case files are at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Sale of public land was first conducted under a credit system, which proved to be unmanageable. Many purchasers overextended their ability to pay. In April of 1820 the credit system was abolished, requiring full payment for land at time of purchase. The same legislation reduced the minimum purchase from 160 acres to eighty acres and the minimum price per acre from $2.00 to $1.25. Several acts of Congress provided for further credit and extensions on the previously unpaid accounts.
In some counties there are county recorders to register all property transactions. Smaller counties give the responsibility to the county clerk. Land records usually have grantor and grantee indexes, with property records beginning with the creation of the county. Illinois Central Railroad land records are in the appropriate county courthouses.
Land Sale Records - The Archives has compiled the Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database which is a searchable database of more than 500,000 first sales of the public domain by the federal government to individuals (R.G. 952.000) . Subsequent sales of land are recorded in deed records. The Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) system does hold deed records for many counties in Illinois. Search the IRAD local governmental records database for the term deed to get a listing of all deed records held by IRAD. Researchers should contact the county recorder's office in the county where the land was bought or sold if IRAD does not have deed records for that county.
- Illinois Land Books at Amazon.com
- Search Land Patents at Gov-Records.com
- Search Property Records at Gov-Records.com
- Illinois Public Land Purchase Records: The records in this database were transferred to the Illinois State Archives and detail the sale of over 54,000 square miles of public land.
- BLM Land Records - covers the State of Illinois. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.
- Land Records from All States
Illinois Historical Records - Databases include Illinois Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Illinois Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Illinois Voter Lists & Census Records; Illinois Immigration & Emigration Records; Illinois Obituary Records; Illinois Military Records; Illinois Family Tree Records; Illinois Pictures; Illinois Stories, Memories & Histories; Illinois Directories & Member Lists and much more....
