Washington Land Records

See Also Researching in Land Records - Land records provide two types of important evidence for the genealogist. Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. Most beginning genealogists underestimate the importance of using land records to pin persons to specific locales. In the South, which has far fewer vital records than New England, the land records are even more crucial to genealogical success. For answers to these and other questions, researchers look to Land records......

Washington was settled through the donation and other land grant acts used by the federal government to attract settlers to sparsely populated regions and to distribute the land fairly to the settlers.

The federal government donated 320 acres of free land to each single man and 640 acres to each married couple who settled in Oregon Territory (including present-day Washington) by 1 December 1850. The terms of the donation stipulated that the settler would homestead for four years. In 1853 the residency was reduced to two years. In 1854 Congress passed another act providing the same donation land grants in Washington Territory.

Donation entry files for Oregon and Washington are on file separately at the National Archives—Pacific Alaska Region in Seattle from 1851 to 1903. A large portion of the donation land claim files have been indexed or abstracted, and these indexes are on file at either the National Archives or the FHL under the title Abstracts of Washington Donation Land Claims, 1855–1902 (National Archives, 1951). The Seattle Genealogical Society (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies) has indexed and published the Washington Donation Land Records. The major Washington libraries have microfilm copies of the Washington Donation Land Records.

Donation land grants can be of great genealogical value because they provide not only a description of the property, but also the name of the person entering the land, place of residence at the time of notification, citizenship, the date and place of birth, marital status, wife’s maiden name (where appropriate), and the place and date of marriage.

Other land entries in Washington were based on either cash payment for the land (cash entries), or on conditions of settlement (homesteads) through land districts. These districts and the dates they opened were as follows: Olympia (1854), Vancouver (1860/1), Walla Walla (1871), Colfax (1876), Yakima (1880), Spokane Falls (1883), North Yakima (1885), Seattle (1887), New Olympia (1890), and Waterville (1890).

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To be eligible for these entries an individual had to be at least twenty-one years of age or the head of a household (including widows) and a U.S. citizen or having filed intentions to become a citizen. Cash entries could purchase any available tract up to 160 acres. After the National Homestead Act was passed in 1862, anyone meeting the eligibility requirements could purchase up to 160 acres by living on the land for five years, raising crops, and making improvements. These records were kept by the local General Land Office, which is the modern day Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The land office’s records were kept in tract books that recorded land transactions by section and township. These records are now at the Federal Bureau of Land Management, 333 SW 1st Ave., Portland, OR 97204 (mailing address: P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208). The BLM website has indexes to the lands that went to patent.

Once land was transferred from the government to private persons, it could be sold again, lost by foreclosure of a mortgage, or distributed through death or divorce. Transactions were recorded by the county auditor in the form of a deed or mortgage and can be obtained by contacting the local county courthouse or regional branch of the Washington State Archives.

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems.
E. Wade Hone, In Land and Property Research in the United States

U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3

The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.

Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.

Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.

The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA) .