Land records are another finding aid for a person or persons. Due to the various types of land ownership documents, understanding the terminology is very important.
Patent lands in Callaway County came under the 1820 Public Lands Act, whereby, public lands owned by the government were put up for sale and available at $1.25 per acre. General Land Offices were set up in St. Louis,, Franklin [Old] and other parts of Missouri. The majority, if not all of early land patents in Callaway County came through the St. Louis Land Office.One of the primary purposes of these public land laws was to encourage people from the East to move West.The land was disposed of by the authority of many acts of Congress - sale, homesteads, military warrants for military service, timber culture, mining, etc. For a time, they could buy up to 640 acres under this law. The sale of public land under the "Cash Act" is no longer in effect.
Several Military Warrant Acts granted public land to soldiers instead of pay. These acts have been repealed.
The Homestead Act of 1862, allowed people to settle up to 160 acres of public land if they lived on it for five years and grew crops or made improvements. This land did not cost anything per acre, but the settler did pay a filing fee. This act is no longer in effect.
Land Entry files were created when a person claimed land under an act of Congress. They first had to fill out an application, and sometimes provide other information(marriage or immigration documents), at the local General Land Office. Other documents were also created under that application, like receipts for any payments, or affidavits of occupation, immigration, marriage, and homestead application. Eastern States did not keep these files. They are now the responsibility of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
Due to the tremendous amount of land sold in the 1800's, the General Land Office experienced quite a backlog in the middle part of the 19th century. It was not unusual for several years to pass between the time an individual purchased land from the local land office and the time a patent for that tract was finally signed by the GLO in Washington, D.C.
Some patents have the word "Pre-emption"in the upper left-hand corner. "Pre-emption" was a tactful way of saying "squatter". In other words, the settler was physically on the property before the GLO officially sold or even surveyed the tract, and he was thus given a pre-emptive right to acquire the land from the United States.
See Land
Explanations web page for terminology.
To search the BLM Records for Callaway County online.
refer: BLM information
