Military Bounty Land Warrants in the United States, 1847-1900 (ICPSR 9514)

Version Date: Feb 17, 1992

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
James W. Oberly

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09514.v1

Version V1

Slide tabs to view more

Summary

Between 1847 and 1855 the Congress of the United States passed four land warrant acts which granted 60 million acres of land to veterans and their heirs. The Pension Bureau determined the eligibility of these individuals and issued military bounty land grants for up to 160 acres. Most of these land warrants were issued before 1860, but the government continued to make grants through the remainder of the 19th century. Because of these Congressional acts approximately one in nine U.S. families received a land warrant for earlier military service. Families usually sold their warrants for cash to third parties who then presented them to the General Land Office as payments for parcels of public land. Variables include the number of acres awarded to the warrant recipient, the conflict in which the veteran served, his wartime military rank, his state of residence, the public land office where the warrant was located, the year the warrant was issued, and the type of military unit in which the veteran served. Information is also provided concerning the ability of the recipient to sign his name, the relationship of the recipient to the original veteran, whether or not the grant had been sold, and, if so, the name of the buyer.

Citation

Oberly, James W. Military Bounty Land Warrants in the United States, 1847-1900. [distributor], 1992-02-17. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09514.v1

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Hide

Time Period(s)

1847 -- 1900

Date of Collection

1979 -- 1988
Hide

Sample

Random sample of one-half of one percent of the total number of land warrants issued by the General Land Office by authority of the United States Congress.

Universe

United States veterans and their heirs.

Data Source

Record Group 49, Records of the Bureau of Land Management (formerly General Land Office), National Archives and Records Administration: Military Bounty Land Warrant files, Acts of 1847, 1850, 1852, and 1855

Data Type(s)

Hide

Original Release Date

1991-05-03

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Oberly, James W. MILITARY BOUNTY LAND WARRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1847-1900. Eau Claire, WI: James W. Oberly, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire [producer], 1990. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1991. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09514.v1
Hide

Notes