In 1815 the Kentucky General Assembly addressed the challenges of issuing three types of patents in three different patents series (Old Kentucky, South of Green River, & Tellico) when legislation was approved establishing the Kentucky Land Warrant Patent Series. The Kentucky Land Office was directed to issue warrants that could be used statewide to patent land. Although the majority of the warrants were sold at the rate of $20.00 per 100 acres, the General Assembly authorized special warrants for “Poor Widows” and the development of Kentucky’s infrastructure, such as building roads or navigating streams.
Each patent file consists of a warrant (or warrants) authorizing the survey, the receipt declaring the purchase price of the warrant, the official field survey conducted by the county surveyor or deputy, and the Land Office copy of the Governor’s Grant finalizing the patenting process. Patent numbers range from 1 to 26080; duplicate patent numbers, such as 5090 & 5367, are identified as .1 and .2. The process of digitizing documents is ongoing at this time therefore not all patent numbers will link to scanned images. To request copies of patent files that are not available online at this time, please submit an order form to the Kentucky Land Office.
For faster search results, the “Quick Search” function enables researchers who have access to the “Kentucky Land Warrants” chapter in The Kentucky Land Grants publication by Willard R. Jillson to enter the Grantee name, County, Grant Book and Page reference.
