Frequently Asked Questions
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.
What is a Treasury Warrant?
Were any Treasury Warrants awarded for military service?
Do all of the Treasury Warrants listed on your database include scanned images?
What form of currency was used to purchase the Treasury Warrants listed on your database?
What is the largest amount of acreage authorized by a single Treasury Warrant?
Are there other research options for these Treasury Warrants?
Were Treasury Warrants assignable?
Were Treasury Warrants purchased by land speculators?
Do Treasury Warrants recite family genealogy or location of purchaser?
Were Treasury Warrants purchased by females?
Did Kentucky continue the practice of issuing Treasury Warrants after statehood?
Who maintains the files containing the Virginia Treasury Warrants used for patenting Kentucky land?
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What is a Treasury Warrant?
Kentucky lands have been appropriated under a four-step patenting process since 1779. Warrants authorize the filing of Entries with the county surveyor; Entries reserve land for patenting; the Field Survey depicts and describes the tract being patented; and the Governor’s Grant finalizes the land patenting transaction. A variety of warrants were used to patent land in early Kentucky; some warrants were awarded as payment for military services, for building roads, and some warrants were awarded for meeting residency requirements. Treasury Warrants, the type of warrant most frequently used, were purchased; the amount of acreage specified in the warrant was determined by the amount of money paid. The Warrants appearing on this database were issued in printed form by the Virginia Land Office after verification by the Virginia Auditor and Treasurer that the necessary fees had been paid. (For more information on the land patenting process see the “Reference Library, Online Seminar” on this website.)
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Were any Treasury Warrants awarded for military service?
The Treasury Warrants Register lists the cost of each warrant implying all of the warrants were purchased, but research indicates George Rogers Clark received a special allotment of 300 Treasury Warrants in lieu of a bounty of $750.00 for recruiting his battalions. As there was no limitation on the price Clark could charge for the warrants, he could raise more funds than if he accepted the original $750 bounty. Proceeds from warrant sales could be used to purchase supplies; warrants could have served as an inducement for enlistment. A study of the patents authorized by Clark’s warrants would determine who bought warrants and if they served with Clark. See the “Authorized” field on this database for patent number identification. Studies of Acts and Resolutions of the Virginia General Assembly would determine if Treasury Warrants were issued to other persons for similar purposes.
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Do all of the Treasury Warrants listed on your database include scanned images?
No. Staff of the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office keyed all information for each entry in the Treasury Warrants Register, Volumes I & II. The books were not scanned. We have, however, identified many of the patents authorized by the Treasury Warrants indexed on this database. Researchers may view colorscanned images of all Virginia patents authorized by Treasury Warrants listed on this database; scanning of Old Kentucky patents will be completed in the summer of 2007. To obtain copies of patent files listed in the “Authorized” field but not yet linked to the database, contact the Secretary of State’s Land Office or the Kentucky History Center, both in Frankfort.
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What form of currency was used to purchase the Treasury Warrants listed on your database?
Although the page headers simply state “Current Money”, notations and the actual warrants indicate pounds, shillings, and pence were used to purchase Treasury Warrants from 1779 to 1783.
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What is the largest amount of acreage authorized by a single Treasury Warrant?
On October 21, 1783, James Monroe paid ₤153825 (pounds) for the right to patent 96140.5 acres under Treasury Warrant 20139.
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Are there other research options for these Treasury Warrants?
Yes. Not all of the warrants listed on this database were used to obtain Kentucky land patents. The 1779 Virginia Land Law that established patenting by Treasury Warrants covered all of Virginia’s “waste and unappropriated land”. Contact the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, for further patent authorizations.
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Were Treasury Warrants assignable?
Yes. Many of the warrants were assigned immediately after purchase; those assignees were listed in the Register and are included on our database. Research of patents authorized by the warrants would indicate how many assignments occurred before the Governor’s Grant was issued.
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Were Treasury Warrants purchased by land speculators?
Yes. It is widely accepted that land speculation is not a new process. The Warrants Register lists a number of individuals who purchased warrants to patent the “waste and unappropriated land” of Virginia. Many persons employed the services of agents to purchase Treasury Warrants for them; if patents were issued “clear” (free of challenges), the agent would be compensated in land or money. (Agreements between agents and speculators are not filed with patent records.)
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Do Treasury Warrants recite family genealogy or location of purchaser?
No. We do see references to “Jr.”, “Sr.”, “Rev.”, “Dr.”, etc. but no other personal information is required to purchase warrants.
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Were Treasury Warrants purchased by females?
Yes.
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Did Kentucky continue the practice of issuing Treasury Warrants after statehood?
Yes. In 1815 the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation that established the Kentucky Land Warrant patent series. A total of 26,080 land patents in Kentucky are authorized by warrants purchased from the Kentucky Land Office. Today warrants are sold by County Courts but the patenting process is not complete until the Governor’s Grant is issued.
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Who maintains the files containing the Virginia Treasury Warrants used for patenting Kentucky land?
Warrants, Surveys and copies of Grants are maintained by the Kentucky Secretary of State in the Land Office Division. Records have been cleaned, deacidified, laminated or encapsulated, microfilmed, and are now being colorscanned.
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