Kentucky Land Records

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The duties of the county clerk are numerous and varied, falling into the general categories of clerical duties of the fiscal court, issuing and registering, recording and keeping records of various legal instruments, election duties, tax duties, transfers, and titling, and issuance of marriage licenses and much more. One of the most important responsibilities of the County Clerk's office is the recording of land records. The most common documents recorded are deeds, mortgages, and assignments and mortgage releases. The other is Marriage Liscenses

The Secretary of State's Office is the place to start when researching Kentucky land acquisitions. All chain of title in the Commonwealth traces back to Virginia land patents and Kentucky land patents. In fact, all Kentucky deeds eventually trace back to an original patent recorded in the Kentucky Land Office. The Secretary of State maintains the security and preservation of these historical documents. They assist a variety of researchers such as historians, genealogists, and applicants for honorary societies as well as attorneys, mineral rights researchers, and land owners tracing the history of their properties. Researching land patents is as easy as determining the surname of your ancestor, when he might have obtained a land patent, and the area in which he might have been located. A number of publications can help you determine if your ancestor was involved in a land patent.

All early property in Kentucky was historically under Virginia's jurisdiction. In May 1779, Virginia passed an act which divided its western lands including Kentucky County, which consisted of all of the present-day state. Just eighteen months later, Kentucky County was discontinued, and Fayette, Lincoln, and Jefferson counties were organized from it. The only extant land entries for this time are those in Land Entry Books of Jefferson and Lincoln counties, but these include some Kentucky County records. Originals are kept by the county clerk of Jefferson County and are entitled “Land Entry Book No. A.” Lincoln County records are at the Kentucky Land Office, Frankfort.

Like many other colonies prior to the Revolutionary War, Virginia had plenty of land, but little money. After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Virginia found it necessary to pay the troops in bounty-land warrants. Military warrants were issued for military service and treasury warrants could be purchased.

Warrants were issued authorizing surveys of property. The procedure was ineffective for it did not require a survey of the land prior to the issuance of the warrant. Instead, Virginia law required the person locate his land wherever he chose and then survey the property at his own cost. Unfortunately, the surveys were not reliable as most were not adept at surveying, and their attempts to do so sometimes resulted in conflicts in title and loss of the land.

Original surveys, patents, warrants and grants as well as indexes are filed in the Secretary of State's Office, Room 148, Capitol Building, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601. The Kentucky Historical Society and Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives have microfilm copies of these records.

Land and property records for Kentucky include deeds, entries, warrants, surveys, mortgages, and indexes to these documents. Under the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which served as a court of record, deed books were maintained beginning in 1796. The first twenty-six books are designated as books A through Z for the period 1796 to 1835, although earlier deeds and documents, some dated as early as 1775, are recorded therein.

Within these twenty-six volumes are documents for residents of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Louisiana, as well as some foreign countries. Books A through C comprise, for the most part, documents relating to the period 1775 through 1796, but other books also include early records.

When the Green River country opened, a law enacted in 1795 provided that each head of household would receive the maximum of 200 acres at the rate of $30 per hundred acres. The “In Fee Simple” title to the property was not to be given to the landholder until the price of the land was completely paid.

Once county jurisdiction was established, land was to be surveyed and recorded at the county clerk's office. In most cases, original county land and property records are maintained by the respective county clerk's office, but microfilm copies are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, the University of Kentucky Library, Kentucky Historical Society, Filson Club Library, and the FHL. Some published land records are available in local, regional, historical. or genealogical society collections or libraries.

Kentucky Land Patents at Gov-Records.com
Kentucky Property Records at Gov-Records.com
Kentucky Land Books at Amazon.com
Research In land Records
Deed Records
State-Land Records
Public-Domain Records
Military Bounty Land
Land Taxes
Kentucky Land Grants: This wonderful database contains the records of the Kentucky Land Office from 1782 to 1924. The work is intended as a source book for historical workers, genealogists, and others who need a complete and chronological index to the early documentary land records and history of Kentucky. Due to the large number of early records contained in these two volumes, The Kentucky Land Grants has been termed "the rarest book of its size, covering early Kentucky history and genealogy, to be found anywhere."
Land Records from All States
Kentucky Historical Records

Military Registers & Land Records

Under the terms of the Proclamation of 1763, issued by England's King George III, soldiers who served in the French & Indian War received bounty land warrants as payment for service. The warrants provided the capacity to obtain land patents. The rank of the soldier determined the acreage awarded by the warrant. The same principle of "land for military service" applied to soldiers serving during the Revolutionary War. Each colony determined the acreage per rank, the requisite duration of service, and the location of their respective Military District. The Military District for Virginia rested in southwestern Kentucky and south-central Ohio. The Military Registers and Land Records site includes information regarding Military Warrants issued to Virginia veterans prior to 1792 and all Kentucky patents authorized by those warrants.

Military Warrants and Patents

Revolutionary War Warrants: Access information on 4748 Revolutionary War Warrants issued to Virginia veterans or their assigns prior to 1792 on the Revolutionary War Warrants database. View color images from the Warrants Register and all Kentucky patent files authorized by Revolutionary War Warrants.

West of Tennessee River Military Patents: Research and view color images of 242 patents in the Jackson Purchase authorized by warrants issued to Virginia Revolutionary War veterans or their assigns on the West of Tennessee River Military Patents database.

Non-Military Registers & Land Records

In Kentucky, there are four steps involved in land patenting: 1) the Warrant (or Warrants) authorizing the survey; 2) the Entry reserving the land for patenting; 3) the field Survey; and 4) the Governor's Grant finalizing the patent. No title is conveyed until the Grant is issued. The Kentucky Secretary of State's Land Office is the repository for all records pertaining to patents issued within the Kentucky boundary, including patents issued by the state of Virginia prior to Kentucky's statehood in 1792.

In Non-Military Registers and Land Records, includes databases, legislation and frequently asked questions regarding patents not authorized by military warrants.

Certificates of Settlement & Preemption Warrants

Access information regarding Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants issued to Kentucky's earliest settlers on the Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants database. View color images of patent files as they are linked to the "Authorized Patents" field on a daily basis. Digitized images of the Certificates of Settlement and Commissioners' Authorizations for Preemption Warrants may be available by clicking the Preemption Warrant Number field. With the permission of The Library of Virginia, the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives is digitizing microfilm of the Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrant Approvals. Records are added to the "Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants database" on a regular basis.

Lincoln Entries

Lincoln Entries: Research 4763 Entries filed with the Lincoln County Surveyor's Office when Lincoln County comprised one-third of Kentucky on the Lincoln Entries database. (Military Entries in southwestern Kentucky are not included on this database.) Link to scanned images of each Entry.

County Court Order Patents

Research 70239 patents filed with the County Court Order Series dating from 1835 to the present on the County Court Order Patents database. Search by patent number, grant book & page, or perform an advanced search to access information by grantee, survey name, county, watercourse, survey year or grant year. Images of all documents filed with patent numbers 0001 - 08241 are linked to the database.

Jackson Purchase

Use the 1885 Loughridge Map to determine locations within the Jackson Purchase, the only area in Kentucky mapped by the public land system mapping method used by the federal government. Use Jillson's "Kentucky Land Grants, West of Tennessee River" to identify Ranges, Townships, Sections, E/W then use this database to find the exact location of the patent or key in a specific location and see it depicted on the Loughridge Map. You can also search the Jackson Purchase database.