NATF 84 National Archives Order for Copies of Federal Land Entry

OMB Control No. 3095-0027 Expires 04-30-2008

NATIONAL ARCHIVES ORDER FOR COPIES OF FEDERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

Dear Researcher,

Before completing the form, please read all pages for ordering instructions and general information about the types of records that can be ordered with this form. Mail order photocopying service by using this form is available ONLY from Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Land), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. For more information, please write to us at the address above.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ORDER

You may use this form to order copies of land entry files (such as credit, cash, homestead, and mineral) or surrendered military bounty land warrants files (Acts of 1788, 1812, 1847, 1850, 1852, 1855). You may request only one land entry file per form.

The National Archives has custody of the land entry files for all Federal public domain states. There are Federal land records for all states except the thirteen original states, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, West Virginia, Texas, and Hawaii. These states were never part of the Federal public domain. Some of the original colonies and eastern states also sold land and awarded military bounty land warrants on their own. Researchers interested in such records should contact the appropriate state archives or historical society. Please note: Federal land records document only the FIRST transfer of title to land, from the United States to another party. Records of later transfers should be found in county land records.

The success of our search depends on the completeness and accuracy of the information you provide in blocks 2-13 on this form. The National Archives has custody of more than ten million individual land entry files. Depending on the time period and state for the land entry file you request, we may need different information from you to find it. Please see the reverse of this page for specific information requirements for different land entry files.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THIS FORM

Use a separate NATF Form 84 for each file that you request. Read the instruction sheet. You must complete blocks 2-4 or we cannot search for the file. In addition, you must provide the information required for the type of land entry file you request, as identified on the reverse of this page. Print your name (last, first, middle) and address in the block provided at the bottom of the form, which is your mailing label. Because of the volume of requests we receive, we are not able to write names and addresses on the form for you. We will return forms without return addresses when we are able. If the form is separated from the envelope, we will be forced to destroy requests without return addresses. The information must be legible. Keep a copy of the form for your records. Mail the original copy of the form to: Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Land), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. Please allow 60 to 90 days (up to 120 days for full pension files) for processing your order. DO NOT SEND PAYMENT WITH THIS FORM. When we search your order, we will make photocopies of records that relate to your request. For credit card orders, we will mail the copies immediately. We accept MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover credit cards. For other types of orders, we will mail the invoice with your copies. Payment is due upon receipt. Do not use this form to request certified copies of records. To request certified copies, contact us online at www.archives.gov/contact or write to Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.

SEE THE NEXT PAGE FOR FEDERAL LAND ENTRY FILE

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.

PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT AND PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT ON THE NEXT PAGE.

INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR COPIES OF FEDERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

GENERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

For all general land entry files, regardless of year, you must supply the name of the land entryman (settler, patentee, etc.), the state in which the land was located, and the approximate date of the entry (blocks 2-4). Frequently, we can locate individual land entry files through name indexes. However, indexes do not exist for all states and all years. Where there is no index, we require additional information to locate the file.

Pre-1908 Land Entry Files

Pre-1908 land entry files (not bounty land warrant files) date from about 1800 and are arranged by state, land office, type of file (such as credit, cash, homestead, mineral, etc.) and land entry file number.

Name indexes available. Name indexes exist ONLY for the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Utah before 1908. For these states, we require the entryman's name, the state in which the land was located, and the approximate date of the entry (blocks 2-4). Any additional information you can supply is appreciated.

Western public domain states. Name indexes do NOT exist for the western public domain states of California, Colorado, the Dakotas, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming before 1908. In addition to the required minimum identification of the land file (blocks 2-4), you must provide EITHER the legal description of the land (block 5), OR the type of file, the name of the land office that issued the file, and the land entry file number (blocks 6-8). You can obtain the legal description of the land (and occasionally other information) from the county recorder of deeds where the land was located.

Eastern public domain states. Name indexes do NOT exist for the eastern public domain states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin before 1908. In addition to the required minimum identification of the land file (blocks 2-4), you must provide the type of file, the file number, and the name of the land office that issued the file (blocks 6-8). You can obtain this information from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by providing the BLM with the legal description of the land (numbered section, township, and range). The BLM has also computerized records of patented land entries for all public domain states except Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. The BLM computer system (GLOARS) has the information needed to locate the land entry files at the National Archives, and it is name searchable. Contact the Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, 7450 Boston Blvd., Springfield, VA 22153. You may search their index at www.glorecords.blm.gov.

Post-1908 Land Entry Files

Name indexes available. Starting July 1, 1908, the files are arranged numerically by patent number, for all public domain states. A name index exists for ALL public domain states for post-1908 land files. For these files, we require the entryman's name, the state in which the land was located, and the approximate date of the entry (blocks 2-4). Any additional information you can provide is appreciated. The BLM has computerized all serial land patent files. Your may search these records at www.glorecords.blm.gov.

SURRENDERED MILITARY BOUNTY LAND WARRANT FILES

These files are arranged by the year of the Act of Congress which authorized the warrants, the warrant number, and by the number of acres granted. There are name indexes for the Revolutionary War and most of the War of 1812 warrants. There are no indexes for the warrants under the acts of 1847-1855. For those files, you must provide the year of the act, the warrant number, and the number of acres (blocks 10-12). You may obtain the file citation from the pension and bounty land warrant application files, by using the NATF Form 85, National Archives Order for Copies of Federal Pension or Bounty Land Warrant Applications, available by writing to Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Land), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001 or contact us online at www.archives.gov/contact. Electronic versions of this and other forms are available at Order Online! at the NARA website, www.archives.gov.

PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT

Collection of this information is authorized by 44 U.S.C. 2108. Disclosure of the information is voluntary; however, we will be unable to respond to your request if you do not furnish your name and address and the minimum required information about the records. The information is used by NARA employees to search for the record; to respond to you; to maintain control over information requests received and answered; and to facilitate preparation of internal statistical reports. If you provide credit card information, that information is used to bill you for copies.

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. The OMB Control No. for this information collection is 3095-0027. Public burden reporting for this collection of information is estimated to be 10 minutes per response. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to National Archives and Records Administration (NHP), 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park MD 20740. DO NOT SEND COMPLETED FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND COMPLETED FORMS TO THE ADDRESS INDICATED ON THE FORM ITSELF.

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES ORDER FOR COPIES OF FEDERAL LAND ENTRY FILES (See Instructions page before completing this form)

If we locate the file you identify below, we will copy it for you. The cost for these copies is $40.00. Indicate your preferred method of payment at the bottom of the page. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search.

SECTION A. INDICATE BELOW THE TYPE OF FILE TO BE SEARCHED (Check ONE box only)

1. FILE TO BE SEARCHED

GENERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

BOUNTY-LAND WARRANT FILES

Please refer to Instructions for descriptions of these types of land entry files.

REQUIRED MINIMUM IDENTIFICATION OF LAND FILE - MUST BE COMPLETED OR YOUR ORDER CANNOT BE SERVICED

2. NAME OF ENTRY MAN ((Give last, first, and middle names)

3. LAND LOCATED IN STATE OF

4. APPROXIMATE DATE OF ENTRY (Exact date, if known)

PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR GENERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

PRE-1908 GENERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

POST-1908 GENERAL LAND ENTRY FILES

5. LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LAND

9. SERIAL PATENT NUMBER

SECTION NUMBER

TOWNSHIP NUMBER

RANGE NUMBER

6. TYPE OF GENERAL LAND ENTRY (Check one)

If other, specify:

CREDIT

CASH

HOMESTEAD ACT

7. PATENT FINAL CERTIFICATE OR DOCUMENT NUMBER

8. NAME OF LAND OFFICE

REQUIRED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR BOUNTY LAND WARRANT FILES, 1847–1855

10. YEAR OF AUTHORIZING WARRANT

11. WARRANT NUMBER

12. NUMBER OF ACRES

If available, please attach one copy of the original land patent, tract book pages, or Bureau of Land Management GLOARS listing for this land entry.

SECTION B. THIS SPACE IS FOR OUR REPLY TO YOU

We were unable to search for the file you requested above. No payment is required. Your request is returned because: REQUIRED MINIMUM IDENTIFICATION OF LAND FILE WAS NOT PROVIDED. Please complete blocks 2 (give full name), 3, and 4 and resubmit your order. For Bounty Land Warrant files, 1847–1855, you must also provide the year of the authorizing act, the warrant number, and the acreage (blocks 10–12). See attached forms, leaflets, or information sheets.

SECTION C. METHOD OF PAYMENT PREFERRED AND YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS (REQUIRED)

CREDIT CARD FOR IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT of copies (see Instructions for credit cards we can accept)

BILL ME (No credit card)

Signature

Exp. Date

Daytime Phone

Your Shipping Address

Last Name

First Name, MI

Street

Street

City

State

ZIP or Postal Code

Country (if not USA)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES TRUST FUND BOARD

NATF Form 84 (rev. 8-2007)