INTERNATIONAL INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY UNIVERSITY

Lesson IV
Bounty Land

Answers To Review Questions In Lesson III

Lesson IV

Bounty Land



The term bounty land is somewhat self-explanatory. Tracts of land were given outright by the states, and later by the federal government as partial compensation(or "bounty") for service in times of military conflict. Such bounty was also occasionally used by the government to incent men to serve in war or conflicts. Bounty land warrants were issued from the colonial period until 1858, when the program was discontinued, and five years later, in 1863, the rights to locate and take possession of bounty lands ceased.

There were a number of different acts, over an 80 year period, which provided for the issuance of bounty land warrants. One of the earliest was the Congressional Act of 16 September 1776, which was an inducement to join the Continental Army, and which provided from 100 to 500 acres, and was dependent on the rank attained while in the Army. In later wars, other acts provided for different types of warrants for enlisted men and officers.

The great bulk of early bounty land at the time of the Revolution was in Virginia, as it existed in colonial times. Since Virginia provided the great bulk of fighting men in the Revolution, the first bounty lands were to be located between the Mississippi, Ohio and Green Rivers in what is now Kentucky. However, this area did not provide enough land, and the Virginia Military Tract was established, which was in what is now the state of Ohio. Continental Army soldiers from Virginia were the only group allowed to settle in the Ohio area, while state soldiers were to use the lands in Kentucky.

We must remember that bounty lands were given by both the state and federal governments. As might be expected, state bounty lands were almost always within the state lands governed by that state, while federal bounty lands were in specified districts and some federal land states. The Congressional Military Tract was established in 1796 in Ohio, and was set up in five-square-mile townships, rather than the usual six mile arrangement. A quarter-township(4000 acres) was the minimum that could be purchased or "redeemed". Federal bounty land warrants were normally for only 160 acres, however, which worked a hardship for individual claimants, causing them to have to band together as groups in order to obtain such high acreage. By 1800, parcels holding as little as 100 acres were being offered.

The War of 1812 saw the bounty land process offered again as an inducement to bring men into the military. Congress created three new military districts to handle the future redemptions of new soldiers. One was in Illinois, one in Michigan and one in present-day Arkansas(then Louisiana). However, lands in Missouri were later substituted for those in Michigan, due to the undesirable nature of the land in Michigan that had been set aside for this purpose. Other later acts of Congress, until 1855, continued to address the needs of soldiers wishing to redeem their bounty land warrants and efforts continued to try to provide suitable land area for these soldiers.

What records are available to the genealogist who is trying to determine if an ancestor received a bounty land warrant, and if so, what might be found in the records? The most comprehensive and complete record of such warrants is contained in the National Archives in Record Group 15, Federal Bounty Land Applications. The records contained in this group range in time from the Revolution to the year 1917. Pension files, as well as bounty land records, are contained in this group. Bounty land applications for the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War are in this group, and there are some other case files covering the period 1814-1856. A tragic fire some years ago destroyed thousands of bounty land warrant application for the years from 1789 to 1800. If your ancestor applied in this period for bounty land, the original documents may be lost, although some abstract information still exists on these earliest applications. There are also registers for bounty land warrants and for claims which run up until 1912. Although the ability to claim bounty land legally was stopped in 1863, there were civil suits and other litigation which caused some lands to be granted as late as 1912. Other important research references include the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications in the National Archives, which was prepared by the National Genealogical Society, as well as the very useful and popular Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files by Virgil White.

When looking for state bounty land warrants associated with the State of Virginia(where, as noted earlier, the greatest bulk of these will be found), the genealogist should make use of Record Group 49 in the National Archives, which has about 16 different components contained within it, such as the warrants issued under each act, treasury certificates, exchange certificates, scrip records, and others. The term "scrip" basically means the issuance of paper "scrip" certificates that could be used in any land office, and were exchanged for Virginia military bounty land warrants.

Another valuable reference work is the Federal Land Series by Clifford Neal Smith. There are also numerous compilations that are now available that list claimants by land office. There was a land office established for each federal district, and, as the population grew, the districts were subdivided and more land offices were established to handle the overflow.

It is interesting note that, insofar as Revolutionary War bounty land claims are concerned, the majority of these were redeemed, except for Ohio, in Iowa, followed by Wisconsin. When searching for bounty land in Ohio, the Index for Federal Land Entries, circa 1802-1849, published by the Ohio Historical Society is often useful, although the Symmes Purchase, the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Firelands are not included.

In sum, the business of bounty land became a very large enterprise in the United States for nearly a century. Although warrants could be assigned by the original applicants, the original applicant was required to apply for the warrant before assignment could occur. There were firms established for the sole purpose of handling bounty land warrants for applicants.

The genealogist should also be aware that there is some bounty land warrant information available in the form of Canadian Refugee Warrants and Canadian Volunteer Warrants, which cover those Canadians who were "refugees" from Canada and assisted the American efforts during the Revolution, and those Canadian volunteers who served during the War of 1812. These records are held by the National Archives. Of the two types, the Volunteer Warrants generally provide more information.
This concludes the basics of land and property research. In Lesson V, entitled, "What Now?", we will review briefly where we can go now in our research in this field.
Proceed to Lesson V

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