Please note: Some of the links on this page may resolve to non-governmental agencies. The information on these pages is not controlled by the Office of the Secretary of State or the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
My ancestor was a Revolutionary War soldier who served out of North Carolina. Why don’t I see him listed on your database?
My Virginia ancestor applied for his Revolutionary War bounty land warrant after 1792. Is he listed on your database?
What is the difference between a Warrant from the Revolutionary War Warrants Register and a Veteran’s Warrant?
My ancestor is listed on the Revolutionary War Warrants Database. Where is his land located?
Where was the Kentucky Military District located?
Reference books indicate my ancestor received a “military patent” in Central Kentucky. Wasn’t that for service in the Revolutionary War?
What is the “Authorized” field on your database?
What are the hyperlinks in the “Authorized” field?
Why is there an asterisk * beside the patent file number?
Why are some patent files larger than others?
Do I have to go to Virginia to see the patent files for military patents issued prior to June 1792?
What efforts are being made to preserve the original documents?
Please explain the “No patents located in Kentucky” entry in the “Authorized” field.
My ancestor was a Virginia Revolutionary War veteran who received Bounty Land Warrant Number #6728.
Where do I find information regarding the Ohio Military District for Virginia veterans of the Revolutionary War?
Where do I find information regarding the Revolutionary War Military Districts for other colonies/states?
What publications are available for information regarding Virginia’s Revolutionary War Warrants?
Do you have Warrants issued for service in the War of 1812?
Do you have Warrants for service in the Mexican War or the Civil War?
My ancestor used his Revolutionary War Warrant to patent land. How do I determine the location of his tract?
What are the benefits of locating ancestors’ landholdings?
Were Revolutionary War soldiers subject to state revenue taxes?
Are Tax Lists available for the counties within the Revolutionary War District?
My ancestor received a land patent within the Revolutionary War Military District. Where do I find subsequent conveyances of the property?
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My ancestor was a Revolutionary War soldier who served out of North Carolina. Why don’t I see him listed on your database?
This database is limited to Virginia veterans of the Revolutionary War.
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My Virginia ancestor applied for his Revolutionary War bounty land warrant after 1792. Is he listed on your database?
No. When Kentucky separated from Virginia on June 1, 1792, Revolutionary War Warrants could no longer be used to obtain land in the Kentucky Military District unless the patent was already in the process of being issued. In 1795, the Kentucky Military District was closed and the area was open for settlement under the South of Green River Patent Series. The only exceptions were the West of Tennessee River Military Patents, issued in the 1820’s, authorized by Virginia Revolutionary War Warrants that had been “entered” prior to the closure of the Military District.
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What is the difference between a Warrant from the Revolutionary War Warrants Register and a Veteran’s Warrant?
The Virginia Land Office maintained a listing of Warrants that were issued for Revolutionary War service, the number of the Warrant, the name of the veteran or assignee, and the date the Warrant was issued. Those listings comprise the Warrants Register. The actual Warrant given to the veteran or his assignee, i.e. the Veteran’s Warrant, was embossed with wax and had the phrase “Military Warrant” at the top of the page. Veteran’s Warrants, if located, are included with the patent file.
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My ancestor is listed on the Revolutionary War Warrants Database. Where is his land located?
Notice neither the Warrant from the Military Warrants Register nor the Veteran’s Warrant, if included in the patent file, does not cite a specific land location. Warrants were similar to credit vouchers or checks for services rendered. The Laws of Virginia established the Military District for the usage of Revolutionary War Warrants issued to Virginia veterans.
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Where was the Kentucky Military District located?
In May 1779, the Virginia General Assembly approved a subcommittee’s resolution that the Military District be located as follows: “bounded by the Green River and a southeast course from the head thereof to the Cumberland mountains, with the said mountains to the Carolina line, with the Carolina line to the Cherokee or Tennessee River, with the said river to the Ohio River, and with the Ohio to the said Green River, until the farther order of the general assembly.” See the map of the Virginia Revolutionary War District included in the “Maps” page of the Reference Library.
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Reference books indicate my ancestor received a “military patent” in Central Kentucky. Wasn’t that for service in the Revolutionary War?
No. Research of the actual patent file should indicate the Military Warrant used to obtain the patent in Central Kentucky was issued for service in the French & Indian War or Lord Dunmore’s War. Researchers should always check the original documents to determine what types of Warrant(s) were used to obtain a patent and who actually used the authorizations.
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What is the “Authorized” field on your database?
Warrants do not convey title; they simply authorize the next step in the patenting process, i.e. the filing of the Entry in the Surveyor’s Office reserving the land for patenting. We have researched our records for the Virginia, Old Kentucky, and West of Tennessee River Military patent series and determined which patents were authorized by military warrants. Those patent files are listed in the “authorized” field. For example, “OK 2765” indicates the Military Warrant being researched authorized patent number 2765 in the Old Kentucky Patent Series. The abbreviation for the Virginia patent series is “VA” and the abbreviation for the West of Tennessee River Military Series is “WTRM”.
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What are the hyperlinks in the “Authorized” field?
Those link to the color images of the patent file housed with the Office of the Kentucky Secretary of State, Land Office Division, Capitol Building, Frankfort.
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Why is there an asterisk * beside the patent file number?
The asterisk indicates the original Veteran’s Warrant is included in the cited patent file.
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Why are some patent files larger than others?
Military Warrants could be assigned and used in combination to patent land within the Military District. If a patent file contains several pages, you will find multiple warrants used in the Survey. For example, five Military Warrants of 100 acres each could authorize one survey of 500 acres. All Warrants included with the patent file are scanned; researchers may have to view several Warrants before finding the Warrant they are studying. It won’t always be the first Warrant you open in that file.
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Do I have to go to Virginia to see the patent files for military patents issued prior to June 1792?
No. Under the direction of the Virginia General Assembly, all patent files pertaining to Kentucky lands were sent to Frankfort shortly after Kentucky became a state.
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What efforts are being made to preserve the original documents?
Since the late 1970’s, the Kentucky General Assembly has appropriated funds for the preservation of Kentucky’s land patent files. Each record has been carefully cleaned, deacidified, laminated or encapsulated, and microfilmed. Presently the Office of the Kentucky Secretary of State is color-scanning each record to capture its actual format.
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Please explain the “No patents located in Kentucky” entry in the “Authorized” field.
After researching our patent files, we are unable to locate any patents authorized by that particular military warrant. There is no further information available for that warrant in the Kentucky Land Office. Click the hyperlink for suggestions for additional research.
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My ancestor was a Virginia Revolutionary War veteran who received Bounty Land Warrant Number #6728. Why isn’t he listed on your database?
Our database is limited to those Revolutionary War Warrants issued from August 8, 1782 (Warrant #1) to October 29, 1793 (Warrant #4627). In all likelihood, Warrant #6728 was used in Virginia’s Military District, located along the Little Miami River, in Ohio.
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Where do I find information regarding the Ohio Military District for Virginia veterans of the Revolutionary War?
Contact Ohio State Archives at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio.
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Where do I find information regarding the Revolutionary War Military Districts for other colonies/states?
We recommend researchers access the publication “Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments” by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, ISBN 0-8063-1511-3. Not only does Bockstruck provide information regarding Revolutionary War veterans, in the “Introduction” of his book, he offers research suggestions for accessing warrant files.
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What publications are available for information regarding Virginia’s Revolutionary War Warrants?
Willard R. Jillson lists Virginians who received Revolutionary War Warrants prior to 1792 in his publication “Old Kentucky Entries & Deeds”, ISBN 0-8063-0193-7. The same publication also includes a listing of certain Military Entries filed with the Principal Surveyor of the Military District. “Revolutionary War Records: Virginia” (ISBN0-8063-0060-4) by Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh provides a listing of Virginia Revolutionary War veterans, their warrant numbers, and includes other vital information regarding warrants used in the Ohio Military District or never formally issued.
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Do you have Warrants issued for service in the War of 1812?
No. Those Warrants were issued by the federal government and had to be used in federal public domain states such as Missouri or Illinois. Kentucky sent many soldiers to the War of 1812 and they (or their heirs) were allowed to cash pension checks within the Commonwealth but they could not use their bounty land warrants to acquire land within our borders. This partially explains the movement out of Kentucky into the public domain states by War of 1812 veterans, their heirs or assignees.
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Do you have Warrants for service in the Mexican War or the Civil War?
No. Kentucky’s military patents are limited to warrants authorized for service in the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War. By the early 1860’s the system of paying soldiers with land had been discontinued and replaced with Homestead Laws.
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My ancestor used his Revolutionary War Warrant to patent land. How do I determine the location of his tract?
Immediately we know the tract fell within the Virginia Military District in southwestern Kentucky. Determine the watercourse cited in the Survey description then access the Gazetteer in the Reference Library to identify the county location. The County Formation Table must also be used to identify all counties involved—a county location can change many times due to county formations! If no watercourse is cited, researchers may need to acquire copies of adjacent patents (or “joiners”) cited in the Survey Description. Once the approximate county location is determined, such as southern Pulaski County, the researcher is ready to plot the survey on a map. Topographical maps for Kentucky are available from the Kentucky Geological Survey Office, University of Kentucky, 228 Mining and Minerals Resources Building, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0107, telephone 859-257-5500 or may be obtained from various internet sites. The process of plotting surveys is similar to constructing a puzzle or quilt; computer software that transfers poles to feet (16.5’ equals one pole) is available. Find the “anchor” patent then piece together the patents. Overlapping patents may occur. Many Professional Surveyors and Engineers are willing to work with researchers attempting to identify early landownership.
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What are the benefits of locating ancestors’ landholdings?
Not all Kentuckians are buried in established cemeteries. We have heard of many instances in which researchers have located gravestones on Kentucky farms. It was the tendency of families to bury their dead on private land before church or government cemeteries were established.
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Were Revolutionary War soldiers subject to state revenue taxes?
Yes. The Kentucky General Assembly establishes the tax structure. There are no exclusions for collection of state revenues. The Military District was taxed under the same structure as the rest of the Commonwealth. We do see, however, exclusions in local county and city levies as well as poll taxes.
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Are Tax Lists available for the counties within the Revolutionary War District?
Yes. They begin with the year the county was formed. Tax Lists may be researched by contacting the Department for Libraries & Archives or the Kentucky History Center, both in Frankfort. See the article “Researching Kentucky Tax Lists: 1792-1840” in the Reference Library on this website.
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My ancestor received a land patent within the Revolutionary War Military District. Where do I find subsequent conveyances of the property?
Subsequent conveyances are filed with the County Clerk in the form of Deeds and Wills. They are not filed with the Secretary of State’s Land Office. Contact the County Clerk’s Office or the Department for Libraries & Archives in Frankfort for copies of county records.