Overview

In Kentucky, there are four steps involved in land patenting: 1. the Warrant (or Warrants) authorizing the survey; 2. the Entry reserving the land for patenting; 3. the field Survey; and 4. the Governor's Grant finalizing the patent. No title is conveyed until the Grant is issued. The Kentucky Secretary of State's Land Office is the repository for all records pertaining to patents issued within the Kentucky boundary, including patents issued by the state of Virginia prior to Kentucky's statehood in 1792.

In Non-Military Registers and Land Records, we include databases and frequently asked questions regarding patents that were not authorized by military warrants. We are also including databases relating to land locations and portions of patents, such as Entries and Warrants.

One of the provisions of the Land Law of May 1779, passed by the Virginia General Assembly, was the  development of a land patenting process for early Kentucky settlers. All persons who had made an improvement and planted a crop in Kentucky prior to January 1, 1778, were entitled to a 400 acre Certificate of Settlement. An additional 1000 acres, adjacent to the Certificate of Settlement tract, could be purchased under a Preemption Warrant. Persons who had made an improvement and planted a crop in Kentucky County, Virginia, after January 1, 1778, and May 1779, could purchase a 400 acre Preemption Warrant. This database identifies those settlers whom the Land Commission deemed qualified for Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants. The "Authorized" field may link the database to scanned images of Kentucky patents authorized by Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants. Scanned images of Kentucky's historic "Doomsday Book" are included on this site. 

One of the provisions of Chapter XIII, Land Law B of May 1779, expanded the land patenting process to include acquisitions under Treasury Warrants. This database includes information for all entries in the Virginia Treasury Warrants Registers, Vols. I & II, as copied by Edmund Thomas, Register of the Kentucky Land Office, and certified by William Price, Register of the Virginia Land Office. Warrant numbers range from 1 to 23082 and span from October 15, 1779, to December 24, 1783. Included are 300 Treasury Warrants issued to General Rogers Clark for the purpose of recruiting his battalions.

In 1780 Kentucky County, Virginia, was divided into three counties, i.e. Jefferson (county seat: Louisville); Fayette (county seat: Lexington); and Lincoln (county seat: Harrodsburg). Each of the three counties had a Principal Surveyor who conducted field surveys and oversaw the work of Deputy Surveyors in his county. Each office maintained an Entry Book which listed the name(s) of persons reserving land for patenting, the amount of land being reserved, the authorizing warrant(s), the date the Entry was filed, and an approximate land location. Marginal notations indicated if the Entry was later surveyed, amended or withdrawn. Entry books could be used to decide land disputes when there were multiple claims for all or part of a land tract.

This website lists 4763 entries filed with the Lincoln County Surveyor's Office from November 3, 1779, to April 19, 1792. (Note: Although Lincoln County, Virginia, at covered one-third of the state, excluding the Jackson Purchase, this Entry Book does not include Entries filed in the area South of Green River reserved for patents authorized by Revolutionary War warrants. Those Entries were filed with the Principal Surveyor's Office for the Military District.)

Kentucky County was formed out of Fincastle County in 1776 by the Virginia General Assembly. This database includes the complete text of all Acts creating all 120 Kentucky counties, plus Acts creating Fincastle, Kentucky and Beckham counties. Pre-built lists and queries are also provided.

Occasionally Wills are filed by heirs and devisees seeking to finalize patents initiated by family members prior to the decedent’s demise. Researchers can now access Wills that have been scanned by Land Office Imaging Staff during the records preservation project. As additional Wills are located, they will be added to this website.

The only portion of Kentucky mapped by the federal government's public surveying method, is the Jackson Purchase in western Kentucky. The Jackson Purchase Locator allows researchers to enter Range, Township, and E/W coordinates to determine the location of a West of Tennessee River patent as defined by the 1885 Loughridge Map. West of Tennessee River Patents are indexed in Jillson's "Kentucky Land Grants", Vol. I.

Kentucky Land Patents are divided into nine major groupings. Each Patent Series traces its origin to Acts of the Virginia or Kentucky General Assembly. In all instances the Grantor is either the state of Virginia or the Commonwealth of Kentucky; the Grantee is the person or persons who receives the Governor's Grant finalizing the patenting transaction.