The genealogical of definitions concerning land grants and warrants can cause confusion for many

researchers.  Bounty land warrants were certificates that gave veterans the right to apply for a bounty

land grant. Veterans had to apply for a warrant, and it wasn't automatically given.  Bounty  land grants

when approved were free plots of land given to qualified veterans as a reward for military service in

lieu of monetary payments. 

 

A veteran requested bounty land by filing an application at a local courthouse. The application papers

and other supporting documents were placed in bounty land files kept by a federal or state agency.

These documents contain information similar to the pension files and include the veteran’s age and

place of residence at the time of the application. If the application was approved, the individual was

given either a warrant to receive land or scrip which could be exchanged for a warrant. Later laws

allowed for the sale or exchange of warrants. Only a few soldiers actually received title to the bounty

land or settled on it; most veterans sold or exchanged their warrants.

 

Bounty land grants issued by the government refer to tracts of land which were given outright by the

states, and later by the federal government, as partial compensation for service in times of military

conflict.  Bounty land grants were also intended to attract men to serve in the military. Bounty land

warrants were issued from the colonial period until 1858, when the program was discontinued.  If the

land was not claimed by 1863, the rights to locate and take possession of bounty lands ceased. 

 

In the post-Revolutionary War period, the federal government provided bounty land for those who

served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and Indian Wars between the

years of 1755 through 1855.  They were first offered as an incentive to serve in the military and later

as a reward for service.  Bounty land could have been claimed by veterans or their heirs. The federal

government reserved tracts of land in the public domain for this purpose. The states of New York,

Pennsylvania, and Virginia also set aside tracts of bounty land for their Revolutionary War veterans. 

Bounty land was also granted for service during the Old Indian Wars of the Antebellum period, such as

the three Florida Seminole wars that took place from 1817 to 1858.  

 

Prior to the Revolutionary War, the colonies promised land for service in the colonial wars.  This was

especially true during the French and Indian War, 1754-1763.  When the American Revolution began

in 1775, some of the colonies promised land to men who would serve in state militia units and in the

Continental Army. Land allotments varied by colony.  The Continental Congress promised land to

soldiers who served in the Continental Army. Soldiers who were privates or noncommissioned officers

were allocated 100 acres, Lieutenant – 200 acres, Captain – 300 acres, Major, Colonel, General

400+ acres, depending on various circumstances.  In some cases, officers above the rank of captain

received as much as 1,000 acres.

 

Between 1788 and 1855, there were more bounty land applicants than pension applicants.  A "bounty

land applicant" was a veteran who applied for a grant of free land from the government as a reward for

their military service, while a "pension applicant" was a veteran seeking regular monetary payments

from the government, usually based on a service-related disability or need due to age or hardship; the

key difference being that bounty land was a land grant, not a direct cash payment, and did not typically

require proof of financial need to qualify.

 

The U.S. Military District in Ohio was the first federal land where warrants could be used starting in

1796. That reserve was closed in 1830.  In the interim, a second reserve that encompassed what is

now the southern end of Illinois was proposed, but never created.  Instead, the military district of Ohio

was enlarged, and the War of 1812 saw the bounty land process offered again as an inducement to

bring men into the military.   After the War of 1812, 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).  These were the last “federal reserves” created. 

 

The United States had begun granting land via a number of land acts issued between 1811 and 1818

in Missouri, Virginia, and Ohio.  Warrants that could be used in the Virginia district or the United States

Military District in Ohio were made redeemable by “Scrip Acts” in 1830 and 1832 and eventually

included land offices in Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.  By 1842, all federal bounty land warrants were

honored at any land office.  Other later acts of Congress, until 1855, continued to address the needs

of soldiers wishing to redeem their bounty land warrants.

 

The warrant resale market became a thriving business.  More warrants were used in Iowa than in any

other state. To receive federal bounty lands between 1788 and 1855, the soldier or his heirs had to

apply.  To obtain the land, the warrants were surrendered.  These surrendered warrants are in the

Eastern States Office of the Bureau of Land Management located in Alexandria, Virginia.  There were

598,599 bounty land warrants issued during the period between 1788 and 1855.

 

I have multiple study guides on this topic that I can send you free electronic copies upon request.  For

additional information on this topic, feel free to consult the print and  electronic resources I have included below.

 

Books      

State of Georgia, Taken from Official State Records in the Surveyor-General Department.  2nd

Edition.  c1966  Genealogy (GA) 929.3758 GEO

 

Land and Court Records.  Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.  

c2006  Genealogy (G) 929.1 SALT

 

101 Brickwall Buster: Solutions to Overcome Your Genealogical Challenges.  c2010.
Genealogy (G) 929.1 101

 

Darrow, Carol.  Genealogists Guide to Researching Tax Records.  c2007
Genealogy (G) 929.1 DAR 

 

Dyer, Albion Morris.  First Ownership of Ohio Lands.  c1982, 1991  Genealogy (OH) 929.3771 DYE

 

Everton, George B.  Handybook for Genealogists.  10th Edition. c2001  Genealogy (G) 929.1 HAN

 

Greenwood, Val D.  Researchers Guide To American Genealogy.  4th Edition. c2017 
Genealogy (G) 929.1 GRE

 

Hatcher, Patricia Law.  Locating Your Roots: Discover Your Ancestors Using Land

Records.  4th  Edition.  c2016  Genealogy (G) 929.1072 HAT

 

Hone, E. Wade.  Land & Property Research in the United States.  c1997

 

Morgan, George G.  How To Do Everything With Your Genealogy.  4th Edition. c2015

https://libpac.leegov.com/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&pos=1&cn=2344532 

 

Neagles, James C.  U.S. Military Records: A Guide To Federal & State Sources, Colonial America

To The Present.  c1994 Genealogy (G) 929.373 NEA
https://libpac.leegov.com/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&pos=1&cn=199592

 

Szucs, Loretto Dennis & Sandra Hargreaves Luebking.  The Source: A Guidebook of American

Genealogy.  3rd  Edition.  c2006  Genealogy (G) 929.1 SOU

https://libpac.leegov.com/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&pos=1&cn=158858
 

Ancestry.com.  U.S., War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858.   2024

 

FamilySearch Wiki.  United States Military Bounty Land Warrants.  2024

 

National Archives and Records Administration.   Bounty-Land Warrants for Military Service, 1775–1855.    2010

 

Feel Free to contact me with any comments or suggestions.  Thank you for your continued support

 

Bryan L. Mulcahy

Reference-Genealogy Librarian

Fort Myers Regional Library

10/17/2024