Tuesday, October 5, 2010

What's FREE this month?!

As you probably know, I am a family history researcher, as well as a Heritage Makers Personal Publishing Consultant. It's the perfect match for me, marrying my passions for heritage and the preservation of family photos and stories in a way that brings me and my clients a great deal of joy.

This month, I wanted to share some places on the web where you can go to find out some fun things about your family tree for FREE! Family Tree Magazine (a great magazine, if you're not familiar with it) posts a list of top 101 websites every year. This time, they've only included the free sites, so check out this list

As I mentioned in my October Celebrations newsletter, one of my favorites is the Bureau of Land Management site At this site, you can plug in the name of an ancestor you think may have purchased a homestead in one of the federal land grant states (anything other than the 13 original colonies, MN, VT, WV, KY, TN, TX & HI). The Homestead Law was a series of enactments beginning with the Act of 20 May 1862. Its purpose was to distribute public lands to those who did not own any and, later, to encourage settlement in the less-developed western states. Most claims were made between 1863 and 1917, though the law was not abolished until 1976.

The Bureau of Land Management, over the past 10 or so years, has been indexing and digitizing the land patents - certificates issued when the land was finally granted to the claimant. These patents provide some interesting information as well as the "key" to gaining even more: your ancestors Land entry case file.

If you have an ancestor in mind, here's what to do:
1. Go to the BLM website
2. Identify the state where your ancestor lived when he applied for land
3. Go to "Search Land Patents"
4. Enter your zip code and Continue
5. Search for your ancestor's land application

You can copy or print the certificate and use Form 84 to fill in the information needed to order your ancestor's Land Entry Case File from the National Archives.

Why send for your ancestor's Land Entry Case File?! There is a fee to send for the case file, and this file may contain only the name of the claimant, the location of the land, acreage, price, dates of final papers and the name of the land office. However, files made after 1840 may also contain things like copies of birth certificates and marriage records, citizenship records, military service information, information on other family members and more. These files can be a true peek into the life of your ancestor in a way you never thought was possible.

So, if you think you might have an ancestor who was a homesteader (I did and I never would've guessed!), give this a try - and make sure you tell me what you find out!