Reader,

The time has come. We are finally going to be diving into title transfer authorities and how understanding them can help you further your genealogy research.

Seriously - these are a doozy and can lead you to some incredible discoveries.

But first... 🇮🇹

I received a question about Italian citizenship by descent on Instagram this week, so I wanted to address it here. REMINDER: you can ask me questions anytime for consideration in future newsletters!

SUBSCRIBER QUESTION How does one get Italian Citizenship through Descent? Italian citizenship is one of the most complicated jure sanguinis citizenships to get, but if you understand the process, it can work in your favor, and next thing you know you're flying through EU customs with your new passport. You are eligible for Italian citizenship by descent if: Your Italian immigrant ancestor was born in Italy after March 17, 1861 Your Italian immigrant ancestor was on your paternal line; if on your maternal line, then there are rules about how your maternal ancestor derives her citizenship, and more stipulations around the year 1948 specifically (see, I told you it was complicated...) All of your Italian ancestors between the immigrant ancestor and you reserved their rights to Italian citizenship / did not renounce their citizenship before the next generation was born. There are some more idiosyncrasies to this process that may apply to you, and it can get pretty complicated. I created a handy-dandy flow chart you can follow to see if you qualify and if so, what genealogical records you will need. I'm warning you now... it might scare you upon first glance. Just look for the "start here" header! Access the chart >>​

Note: the file is much easier to read if you click "open with diagrams.net" at the top of the page! Otherwise you'll end up with this illegible, tiny mess:

Now, back to our scheduled programming!

In last week's newsletter, we looked at the Homestead Act. This is an example of a title transfer authority that most U.S. researchers would be familiar with. The Homestead Act was enacted in 1862 and provided that any U.S. citizen or intended citizen (someone who had begun the naturalization process) who had never borne arms against the U.S. government (cough cough Confederates...) could claim 160 acres of government land, along with some stipulations.

In other words, the Homestead Act was a title transfer authority: it was the authority under which the federal government transferred titles to private citizens.

And, as discussed in last week's newsletter, knowing under which title transfer authority your ancestor came into ownership of their land can help you find further genealogical records. Knowing your ancestor received their land under the Homestead Act means you can then begin researching homestead records, for example.

But guess what?

While the Homestead Act of 1862 was probably the most commonly used title transfer authority, there were loooooooots more.

And what does that mean?

Well, it means you might be about to open some research floodgates. Let's look at some other examples of title transfer authorities that you might come across in your research - both fairly common ones and those obscure situations that you probably will never see, but heck they are interesting.

Sale-Cash Entry

If you see "sale-cash entry" as the authority under which your ancestor was given a patent, this means that they purchased the land outright. 💵

This was made possible by the Land Act of 1820, which allowed for the direct cash sale of public lands in full for the first time. Previous to this, private sales had to happen via a credit or installment system over the course of four years.

The minimum size of a standard tract was 80 acres - brought down from the previous 160 acres, with a minimum price of $1.25 per acre. Both minimums were brought down to make it easier for farmers trying to purchase land.

This may be the "least exciting" of the title transfer authorities, but the land entry files associated with cash entry sales still may contain some valuable genealogical information, like testimonies, affidavits, and naturalization papers.

Canadian Refugee Warrant Act

Here's an interesting one that only applies to a small group of our ancestors (really, like... 70 people).

This Act granted for the disposition of a tract of land in Ohio to men from British Canada and Nova Scotia who sympathized with the U.S. during the American Revolution. For their lack of loyalty to the Crown, the Canadian government confiscated their possessions. The U.S. government in turn set aside over 100,000 acres in Ohio to be given to these men in honor of their service to the American cause.

This is a great example of how knowing the title transfer authority might help you determine where your ancestors originated: (in this case, Canada) and give you some insight into their political affiliations. 🇺🇸

Chickasaw Cession

The Treaty of Pontitock / Pontotoc Creek was signed in 1832 and relinquished the last of the Chickasaw lands east of the Mississippi River. After this treaty, the process of surveying and dividing up the land, the "Chickasaw Cession" had begun. Chickasaw families residing in the Cession were granted 1/3 of available land, while the rest was auctioned.

If you see "Chickasaw Cession" as the title transfer authority, it may mean you have Chickasaw ancestry. This is an example of how title transfer authorities can point to clues of heritage.

Scrip-Warrant Act of...

You will likely come across a patent record that indicates the title transfer authority as "Scrip-Warrant Act of [insert date]". There were 6 of these acts, dating from 1812-1855, that allowed payment by bounty warrants to military personnel upon separation from their service from the War of 1812, Mexican-American War, or Indian Wars.

These are fairly common, and very exciting to come across in your research as their accompanying records will usually contain military history information, and may even be filed with their military pension file.

This happened to me - so I headed down to the National Archives to grab my ancestor's file, and this is what I found 👇

How a Land Patent Broke a Brick Wall Finding my ancestor's land patent led me down a rabbit hole of genealogical research. ​ Read the blog >>

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Ok, so at this point you must be asking:

But Lisa, how do I actually find references to these authorities on my ancestor's land patents?"

Here is a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Head over to the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office records website: https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/​
2. Input the information you know about your ancestor; at the bare minimum, it should be state and last name. I recommend inputting only the last name rather than both first and last, or play around with name spelling if your ancestor had a common last name in the state
3. Sift through the search results for your ancestor. If it isn't clear which result is your ancestor, there are a few things you can do, like look into your ancestor's FAN Club, and consult census and plat data. If you find yourself in this sticky situation, let me know and I can create a resource for you!
4. If you find your ancestor in the search results, click on the blue linked "accession number".
5. Now you are looking at the patent information! To find the authority specifically, look under "Miscellaneous Information" section.

Ta-da! Now you know under what authority your ancestor received their land.

PHEW. That was a long newsletter. See ya next week 👋

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