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- One of the two types of codes used to uniquely identify a land patent
(the other type of ID code is serial number). An accession number directly relates
a document image to the original hardcopy document. It identifies the state, volume
number and page number of the original GLO document (valid only for the 13 eastern
public domain states, with the exception of Iowa).The format of accession numbers
is SSVVVV__.PPP where SS is state code, VVVV is the volume number, and PPP is the
page number. For example, LA3010__.023 identifies the document on the 23rd page of
volume 301 for Louisiana. See also Accession/Serial Number.
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- Total acreage or cumulative totals described in the document. This number is
expressed to the nearest thousandths of an acre. Square feet acreage has been converted
to the nearest thousandths of an acre for townsites and town lots.
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- "Aliquot Parts" are a notation used by rectangular survey system to represent the
exact subdivision of a section of land. Aliquot parts are described as a half or
quarter of the largest subdivision of the section, except fractional lots which cannot
be described by aliquot parts. States were divided into townships containing 6 square
miles and subdivided into 36 sections, each containing 640 acres. Sections were further
subdivided into half sections, quarter-sections, and sixteenth-sections or into lots,
until the piece of land was accurately described.
Sections subdivided into halves are
represented as N, S, E, and W (such as "the north half of section 5") or quarters of
a section are represented as NW, SW, NE, and SE (such as "the northwest quarter of
section 5").
Sometimes, several Aliquot Parts are required to accurately describe a
piece of land. For example,"E½ SW¼" denotes the east half of the southwest quarter
(containing 80 acres), and "SW¼NE¼NE¼" denotes the southwest quarter of the northeast
quarter of the northeast quarter (containing 10 acres).
In general: a section contains
640 acres, a half section contains 320 acres, a quarter section contains 160 acres, a
half of a quarter section contains 80 acres, and a quarter of a quarter contains 40
acres, etc.
Irregular tracts of land not generally described by conventional aliquot
parts are a lot, a tract, or a small holding claim.
It is important to remember that
the aliquot parts shown in the patent data usually translate into words found on the
land document.
In general: a section contains 640 acres, a half section contains 320 acres, a quarter
section contains 160 acres, a half of a quarter section contains 80 acres, and a quarter
of a quarter contains 40 acres, etc.
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- The true east-west line extending from an initial point in both directions.
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- A BLM document identifier number. This number is only recommended for use by BLM internal users.
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- A one-, two-, or three-digit number used to describe a block (or piece) of land within a
township. For example, "Block 6 in Township 5 North, Range 12 West".
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- Land documents that were issued and later canceled were marked "Cancelled"
across the face of the certificate with either a stamp or a handwritten annotation.
Canceled documents were usually replaced by another document. The Comments
field for a canceled document will sometimes make reference to the document(s)
that were used to replace it.
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- This information may contain general remarks about the document. Comments might include notes regarding a
canceled document, townsite names, private land claims, mining districts,
additional GLO Serial numbers, or a reference to a replacement document.
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- The present day name of the county or parish in which the land is located.
A single land description may have more than one.
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- An electronic "picture" of the original land document that has been preserved
on optical disk and that can be shared by several people simultaneously.
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- The primary identification number given to the original GLO document. Warrant
numbers, certificate numbers, BIA numbers, railroad patents, swamp patents and coal
certificate numbers may be used as the document number. In cases where a certificate
number is not given you may find the original GLO Serial number.
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- A section of land is denoted as a fractional section if it is not a complete
section (e.g., less than 640 acres due to a body of water).
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- A name given to a Lode, Placer or Millsite mining claim which is described
on the Mineral Certificate.
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- The month, day, and year that the President signed the land document.
On this document you will also find signatures of officers or employees of
the GLO. Beginning June 17, 1948, the authority was delegated to the Secretary
of the Interior to issue patents on public lands.
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- A sub-part of a legal land description on a land patent. Land descriptions
uniquely identify the parcel or parcels of land for which title is given by the
land patent. Land descriptions are based on the rectangular survey system.
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- Name of location (usually a city or a town) where the General Land Office
established a district land office to handle various land transactions. Issued
patents were bound into volumes by Land Office names. Usually, several Land Offices
existed for each state.
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- Each land patent contains a legal land description that describes in legal
(survey) terms the land to which title is given. A legal land description in turn
consists of one land description for each parcel of land for which title is given
by the land patent.
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- Fractional or odd-shaped tracts of land not generally describable by conventional
aliquot parts. Lots are sometimes expressed as "Lot 12" or "Lot 12a."
If a lot is included in a description of land, it will be denoted in the aliquot parts as
a one- or two-digit number and may include a lower case alphabet. For example, "Lot
12a of the north-west quarter" is denoted as "12aNW" in the aliquot parts field.
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- An imaginary north-south line. The meridians frequently referenced on this site are
principal meridians.
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- Some GLO documents contain descriptions of land in terms other than those used
by the rectangular survey system. Land bordering a river may contain a description
or reference expressed in terms other than aliquot parts,
township, and range. For
example, "ten paces north from the large oak tree."
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- From 1788 to 1855 the United States granted military bounty land
warrants as a reward for military service. These patents were issued in various
denominations and based upon the rank and length of service. They were often
assigned to heirs or other individuals.
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- Land granted to a patentee was subject to certain vested and accrued rights for
mining, agriculture, manufacturing, or other purposes. This data item indicates whether
the land described in the document involved the reservation of mineral rights for any
of these purposes.
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- A secondary identification number found on the original GLO document
(e.g., Homesteads Application numbers, R&R; numbers pertaining to Warrants, IO numbers,
and Mineral Certificates). Not all documents have a miscellaneous document number
(e.g., Cash Entry Patents and Railroads).
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- The first name of the person who received the certificate. In some instances
there may be multiple patentees, the names are listed in the order in which they
appear on the document.
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- The last name of the person who received the certificate. In some instances
there may be multiple patentees, the names are listed in the order in which they
appear on the document. Also, there may be additional names listed on the document,
for example, maiden name, alias, heirs, assignees, company name, or state.
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- The middle name of the person who received the document.
Middle initial, maiden name, or last name may also appear in this field.
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- The true north and south line extending from an initial point in both directions.
Principal meridians are the first north-south lines (meridians) surveyed for an area and form the
basis for measuring ranges east and west.
Principal meridians used within each state can have numeric names such as
"Fifth Principal Meridian" or common names such as "Chocktaw Meridian."
Some states have more than one principal meridian, for example,
Arkansas has the Fifth Principal Meridian, and Mississippi has five principal meridians:
Chickasaw, Choctaw, Huntsville, St. Stephens and Washington.
Note: In our database, we abbreviate "principal meridian" to PM.
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- A row or tier of townships lying east or west of the principal
meridian and numbered
successively to the east and to the west from the principal meridian.
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- The Range Direction indicates which side of the principal meridian
the township
is on. In the example "Township 5 North, Range 12 West," West indicates the direction
of the township from the (vertical) meridian. Range directions can be either east or
west.
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- A Range Number identifies a township's East or West relation to its principal
meridian. In the example "Township 5 North, Range 12 West," the number 12 represents
the Range Number used to identify the township that is 12 tiers to the left of the
principal meridian.
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- The rectangular survey system in a nutshell:
The rectangular survey system
(as opposed to the metes and bounds system) uses imaginary "nets" of big rectangles
superimposed on the land. The center of a net is anchored at a known geographic
position. Two base lines cross at the center, one north-south and the other east-west.
The big rectangles of the net, each generally 24 miles by 24 miles, are described
according to their position in relation to the base lines. Each big rectangle is then
subdivided into smaller rectangles, and the smaller rectangles into even smaller
rectangles, and so on.
The north-south base line of the net is called a meridian. The
big 24-mile rectangles are called tracts. Tracts are each divided into 16 townships.
Townships are divided into sections. Sections are divided into half-sections and
quarter-sections. Half-sections and quarter-sections are divided and further subdivided
into halves and quarters.
Parcels of land described from the rectangular survey system
will use additional terms such as aliquot parts, ranges, and lots (or fractional lots).
A further discussion and an illustrated guide to the rectangular survey system are here.
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- Pertinent information associated with the Legal Land Description, e.g., numeric/alpha
lots, town lots, tracts, an identifying feature of a parcel of land, exclusions of
lands, small holding claim, and Mineral certificate.
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- A section is a regular tract of land, 1-mile square, containing 640 acres,
within a township. It is approximately 1/36 of a township.
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- Identifies a section within a township. Sections are usually numbered 1
to 36 but can be higher in some states. Alphabetic characters may be included
in the section number. In some instances there are surveys with duplicate section
numbers that are identified by a numeric-alpha (e.g., 12 or 12U).
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- Beginning in July 1908 with Serial Patent Number 1, serial patents were
assigned numbers consecutively, regardless of State, and filed numerically.
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- One of the two types of codes used to uniquely identify a land patent
(the other type if ID code is accession number). A serial number is a unique
numeric code assigned to each serial patent. The first serial patent has serial number 1.
The highest serial patent number is 1,242,610. In our records, serial patent numbers have
eight digits with zeros filled in to the left to make eight places (for example, 00006191).
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- A small holding claim is a continuous bona fide possession of public lands in
the Southwest for at least 20 years, which did not follow the rectangular system and
were surveyed as numbered metes and bounds tracts, e.g., Small Holding Claim #523.
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- Depending on the context, this is either the geographic name where the lands were
located or the administrative name of the land office where the sale was completed.
If given in a land description, it means the geographic state. In most or all other
cases, it's the administrative state.
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- The approval date of the official survey plat for Federal land or the date
of an erroneous survey.
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- Within the Public Land Survey System Tracts, a few specific types of surveys
were given serialized numbers (e.g., US Surveys in Alaska and Mineral Surveys)
BLM State Offices assign mineral survey numbers upon receipt of a mineral survey
application e.g., 2370 or 2370A. These numbers are issued consecutively.
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- Refers to the congressional act or treaty that supports the transfer of land
from the United States government to private owners. An example of a title transfer
authority would be May 20, 1862, Homestead Entry, 12 Stat 392.
Our site has a complete
list of title transfer authorities in our Visitors Center.
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- A township is a major subdivision of the public lands under the rectangular
system of surveys. It is a tract of land contained within the boundaries of the
north-south range lines. Most townships are 4-sided, measuring approximately
6 miles on each side and containing approximately 36 square miles, or 23,040 acres.
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- The Township Direction indicates which side (north or south) of the baseline the
township is on. In the example, Township 5 North, Range 12 West," North indicates the
Township Direction from the (horizontal) baseline.
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- A township number is identified by its relation to a base line and a principal meridian.
For example, "Township 5 North, Range 12 West" identifies a particular township
that is 5 tiers up from the base line. In this example, the number 5 represents the
Township Number. Some townships may be fractional.
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- A tract is a parcel of land that lies in more than one section or
that cannot be identified completely as a part of a particular section, e.g.,
Tract 37. Note: Tracts within a township are numbered beginning with 37 to avoid
confusion with section numbers.
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- A provision in a conveyance document accepting and retaining some rights,
title, or interest in the lands conveyed, and are required or authorized by law to
be retained, such as granting right-of-ways for ditches or canals.
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- The first name (as it appears on the document) of the person who received
the military warrant. Warrantee names only appear on military warrants.
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- The last name (as it appears on the document) of the person who
received the military warrant. Warrantee names only appear on military warrants.
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- The middle name (as it appears on the document) of the person who received
the military warrant. Warrantee names only appear on military warrants.
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