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THE AMERICAN STATE PAPERS

THE PAPERS

The AMERICAN STATE PAPERS (PAPERS) is a collection of documents that preserves executive and legislative writings from the archives and manuscript records of the Senate and House. The original 38 volumes were published by Gales and Seaton 1832-61 under authority of Congress. Southern Historical Press, Inc. reprinted PAPERS, Vols. 1-9 and GRASSROOTS OF AMERICA (GRASSROOTS), a computerized index 1789-1837, in 1993. A complete set was donated to the Idaho State Historical Society Library and Archives by the Idaho Genealogical Society early in 1994.

Also, several excellent links to pages describing PAPERS now may be found online. A good place to start is:

• American State Papers 

Volumes 1-8 of the PAPERS cover various types of land claims on Public Domain of the United States. Volume 9 pertains to claims against the government, usually not related to land. Nearly 80,000 diverse claims to land in early America (1789-1837) are treated generally giving genealogical/historical data such as: ages of claimants; previous places of habitation; names of children, wives, and other relatives; exact location of claims; and the time period of "cultivation and habitation".

Each volume is indexed in the back. The index in GRASSROOTS combines individual indexes into one directory of surnames. Thus, it is easy to track individuals and/or family members through one or more volumes.

Land grants and claims in the PAPERS are private claims on Public Domain obtained by the United States from British, Spanish, or French authorities. They embrace claims based on titles issued by those governments and settlements without foreign grants that were later authorized by various statutes. Each claim had to be proven and verified to be recognized by the United States, regardless of its origin.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Western lands claimed by original states and ceded to the United States, and acquisitions from foreign governments comprise the Public Domain. The Original Thirteen States plus Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Vermont, Texas, and West Virginia are State Land States with no Public Domain and land titles are granted or confirmed by the separate states. The remainder are Public Domain States where original land titles are issued or confirmed by the United States.

The PAPERS treats the following Public Domain States directly:

The following State Land States are dealt with to some degree:

PUBLIC DOMAIN LAND LAWS

Public Land Laws started in 1775 when the Continental Congress promised land to Revolutionary War veterans. Thereafter, Congress enacted numerous Public Land Laws and title transfers continued well into the Twentieth Century.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a Rectangular Survey System in the Northwest Territory and allowed sale of land. The ordinance required all Public Domain to be surveyed by the United States Government before title could be issued. First surveys of townships north of the Ohio River began in 1786 and the first land sale occurred in 1787. The Rectangular Survey System of 1785 (subsequently modified) was extended to all Public Domain Lands, thus creating a standard system for identifying and conveying title.

PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS

The American Government was required to validate private land claims granted by earlier French, Spanish, and British governments in the Public Domain States before title could be granted under the Public Land Laws. Various commissions were established to evaluate these claims and act upon them, with many actions ending in federal courts.

Indian claims had to be adjudicated before title could be granted under the Public Land Laws. In addition, a myriad of conflicts and other problems arose for settlers filing entries under Public Land Laws, often resulting in private land claims presented directly to Congress for relief. Records of these private relief actions are contained in the PAPERS.

Private Land Claims ruled valid by the claims commissions and federal courts are first-title deeds and surveyed outside the rectangular survey system. The rectangular surveys stop at the boundaries of the claims, and legal titles run back to the validated claims, which were surveyed accordingly.

As an Example, John F. Brown filed a claim in Florida to 95 acres that was first granted to a Josiah Gray on February 16, 1816, by then Governor Coppinger. Gray then sold it to a George Flemming in 1819, who in turn sold the tract to Brown. This claim was supported by copies of deeds and surveyed as claimed. The claims board confirmed the claim to Brown and his heirs on April 17, 1824.

Many of the claims, however, were not approved, as demonstrated by the 1835 petition of one Matthew Arbuckle for eight tracts totaling 2132 acres in Arkansas. Arbuckle claimed that he purchased those tracts from five individuals in 1829 in the Lawrence Land District, Arkansas Territory.

Arbuckle presented copies of instruments professing to transfer title to him. All of the parcels were originally entered as Spanish Land Claims, which had been confirmed by land courts of Arkansas Territory when he purchased them. The tracts were described according to the rectangular survey system. Even so, his claim was denied as defective despite the evidence submitted.

Although the Arbuckle claim was denied, it contains names and historical information for that family name. This could lead to further research in the public land records of Arkansas.. For example, a search of "CD250 LAND RECORDS SERIES #1: ARKANSAS" of the Bureau of Land Management revealed thirteen cash entries (public land sales) for eight Arbuckles (three different Mathews) 1839-60. One may speculate that all were related and may include the Matthew Arbuckle that laid claim to the avowed Spanish Land Grants.

NOTE: The Arkansas and other Public Land Records under the jurisdiction of ESO may now be searched online at: Eastern States Office of the Bureau of Land Management

OTHER CLAIMS

Vol. 9, CLAIMS, embraces claims presented to Congress for relief that were not directly related to Land Claims. They demonstrate a very wide variety of situations where people were seeking remedies and contain genealogical information, both personal and historical nature. For example, the Secretary of War, H. Knox, on November 23, 1791, reported eight petitions, including the following:

1st. That it appears that William Bond, deceased, was commissioned by Congress as the colonel of the 25th regiment of foot, on the 1st day of January; and that he died while in public service, at Ticonderoga on the 31st day of August of the same year. That the petitioner, Lucy Bond, was left the widow of the deceased, William Bond, with nine young children to support and educate; and that she still remains a widow. That the said widow has not received any compensation for the seven years' half-pay in such cases by the United States.

OBTAINING RECORDS

Family data gained in Volumes. 1-8 could lead to checking state and county land records and Federal Land Records in Public Domain States and held by Federal agencies. It may also point towards records in the State Land States, both at the state and county levels. For a general explanation of land records and what is available for each state, refer to "Land and Tax Records" in The SOURCE, A Guidebook of American Genealogy:

Public land records held by the Bureau of Land Management and available at its State Offices are survey plats and field notes, tract books, status plats, serial register books (after 1908), and land patents. The reader is directed to The Land Records of America and Their Genealogical Value for an excellent description of public land records. Those records for the states included in the PAPERS may be obtained from the Eastern States Office of the Bureau of Land Management.

Case file papers for both public land entries (entries under various Public Land Laws) and private land claims are available from the National Archives. Each land entry file shows the name of the patentee, place of residence, a legal description, date, and file number, which is also number of the the record copy of the patent in the Bureau of Land Managment. Additional information in each file depends on the type of land entry.

Private land claim case files include such records as correspondence, reports, maps and plats, petitions, affidavits, transcripts of court decisions, deeds and abstracts of title. Wills, deeds, marriage certificates, and assignments may be found among these records because proof of title was required. For the most part, they are certified copies of original documents. These files do not include the original grant or other documents of the previous government, except perhaps some translation copies.

Genealogical information varies considerably in the private land claims . Some claims mention only the name of the claimant and land location. Others may show the place of residence when the claim was made and relatives' names, both living and dead. Often there is more information about heirs than for the claimant.

Case file papers for CLAIMS (Vol. 9) consist of filled-out forms, correspondence, and supporting documents. Most records show the name of the claimant, age, and place of residence when the claim was filed; some contain the names of family members and other personal information.

Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives for details about obtaining case file papers for public land entries and private land claims. Chapter 16, "Claim Records", provides particulars to procure case file papers for claims in Volume 9, CLAIMS. Chapter 16, "Maps" contains further information about survey aspects of the Public Domain.

CONCLUSIONS

The ten-volume set of the PAPERS and GRASSROOTS reprinted by Southern Historical Press makes family data accessible that formerly was unavailable to many researchers. The PAPERS span an early period of American settlement and opens new opportunities in areas where data is often difficult to find. The data in these volumes, when combined with early land transactions in both the State Land and Public Domain States, furnishes a large reservoir of largely untapped family information.

PAPERS often does not provide full family information, as in the case of the William Bond claim, it furnishes stepping stones that lead to other research possibilities. The data, when combined with that in other sources, for instance, may demonstrate the movement of individuals and families successively from Colonial America to the West. Every family researcher with possible roots in early America should consult the PAPERS in the course of their investigations.

REFERENCES

U. S. Congress, AMERICAN STATE PAPERS: Public Land Series and Claims, Vols. 1-9 (Greenville, S. C., Southern Historical Press, Inc., rpt. 1994). Originally published under authority of Congress 1832-1861 by Gales and Seaton, Washington, D. C.

Phillip W. McMullin, GRASSROOTS OF AMERICA A Computerized Index to the American State Papers: Land Grants and Claims 1789-1837 (Greenville, S. C., Southern Historical Press, Inc., rpt. 1994; Orig. Pub. by Gendex Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1972). NOTE: See FHL US/CAN Fiche 6051323. .

William Thorndale, "Land and Tax Records" Chapter 7",  The SOURCE, A Guidebook of American Genealogy, Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny, eds., (Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Publishing Co., 1984),

E. Kay Kirkham, The Land Records of America and Their Genealogical Value, (Salt Lake City, UT, 1964: Deseret Book Co.)

National Archives and Trust Fund Board, "Land Records" Chapter 15, Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives (Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, rev. 1985)

E. Wade Hone, LAND & PROPERTY RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES,   (Ancestry, Inc., PO Box 476, Salt Lake City, UT 84110-0476, 1997)

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Created By: Donovan Yingst
UPDATED: 22 September 2007