Britain’s exploration into the New World began in 1585 with the expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh. Over a period of 200 years from that early settlement, the British left us many land records in the colonies which eventually became our early states. In the early years, the British granted charters to large land companies, which were essentially comprised of wealthy land speculators who resided in England. These land companies had the authority to issue land grants to those individuals who were loyal to the crown. The crown ultimately controlled all of the lands in these huge charters, with the land companies acting as agents of the crown. Some of the more famous of these land companies were the London Company, Massachusetts Bay Company, Plymouth Company, Virginia Company and others.What types of records are available from this early British period? Probably the most valuable for the genealogist are crown grants and proprietor records. A proprietorship was responsible for the granting of lands from the charter, as agent for the charter (and therefore, for the crown). When these disbursements of land were made, the land itself was laid out in descriptive form in much the same way as later deeds, with landmarks and other prominent identifying data. Many of these records survive in one form or another, whether they be patents, surveys, warrants, or in some other form, and have been microfilmed and are available from various resource centers.

In the Revolutionary War, the United States confiscated lands belonging to those that were felt to be loyal to the British government. The British government tried to compensate the loyalists for their losses, and, in 1783, the British established the American Claims Commission to administer the claims.

Moving now to Spain, we know that it was the first foreign nation to claim land ownership in the North American continent. By the late 1600’s, Spain laid claim to much of what would become the central and southwestern United States, as well as parts of Texas, New Mexico, California and Florida.

Beginning in 1763, Spain began keeping careful records of its land transactions, with several copies made of each document, one of which was sent to the Spanish archives in Seville.

The French held a large amount of territory in North America, which underwent a series of transfers between foreign governments over the years, but we are familiar with it as “The Louisiana Purchase”. The Superior Council Records are the primary source of information on the French land granting practices. This collection holds everything from mortgages to marriage contracts, civil and land suits, and other valuable information. The coverage of these records is restricted primarily to the areas that we know today as Louisiana.

Mexico, by 1821, claimed lands in the present states of Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California and Utah. The Mexicans, especially in Texas, were prolific in granting lands, often in the form of a rancho, which was a grant over 1000 acres. They also used the headright system in Texas and in California. In Texas, references are made to empressario grants, which were large tracts given to land speculators to colonize entire towns.

This brings us to the point in time at which the United States came into existence. In the early days of the United States, the Government gave out Federal Patents to settlers who wanted to homestead a plot of earth. All land records in the United States now begin with the Patents which were given to the first land owners. It is possible to trace the ownership of any parcel of real estate all the way back to the time when the Government owned it. These land records are the basis for property ownership in the United States.