Elk County Connection

[Tobina+1]

Our connection to Elk County is just all our wonderful friends we have met since moving here 5 years ago.  I believe our connection to the county and our friends run just as deep as family ties.

[greatguns]

My connection is the county line!

[W. Gray]

Larryj

There is also a short history of the Amos Andrews family in the Elk County history book. It says he had a land patent for forty acres a half mile west and three miles north of Howard. The patent was issued  when Grover Cleveland was president.

I am not aware of what a land patent is, especially in relation to a land claim.

[Diane Amberg]

Isn't a Land Patent like a claim with a deed, but it can't  be foreclosed on? It's stronger protection for the owner?

[W. Gray]

Well, all claims would eventually be deeded.

I am thinking that the first deed issued to someone who has staked a claim and applied to and actually bought that claim was issued a land patent--a deed. There is something about land patent property not being "takable" for private debt settlement as long as the land was under the original owner's name. However, not paying taxes on it was another matter.

Originally, in Howard County at least, 160 acres was all that was available for claim but Congress at some point lowered that to 80 acres and then to 40 acres for those who did not want the larger amount.

My understanding is that a land patent, the deed, was issued by the president at the time--even had the president's signature--but the signature was actually from a bureaucrat in that particular U.S. Land Office.

There was still a lot of unclaimed federal land in Elk County around the time Grover Cleveland was president so I am thinking that 40 acres of land west and north of Howard lay unclaimed until Amos Andrews became the first claimant and received a land patent--a deed.

That would mean the original owner of almost every acre in Elk County would have been issued a land patent by a sitting president. The only exception might be in sections 16 and 36 of every survey township which were granted by the federal government to the state. Each county sold that land to the highest bidder and the proceeds went for the support of state and local schools. However, states could also issue land patents for property given to them by the federal government so maybe those folks received a land patent also.

[larryJ]

Here is what I found about that.

Land Patent Law & Legal Definition
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A land patent is a supreme title to land which was originally acquired within the United States of America by a treaty. It grants the rights to the described land under the treaty to the individual person named on the patent and to their heirs and their assigns forever.

The party named on the patent may transfer by inheritance, grant, or assign the patented lands to someone else, which heir or assignee is now named on the patent by that assignment. Assignments are often made by deed, but must be accepted and the grantee must take some action to signify acceptance of the assignment. After accepting the proper assignment of the Land Patent with proper documentation, the transferee is named on the physical land patent where it says, "and to his heir and assigns forever". It is usually granted by the federal or state government to an individual or private company.

Larryj

[W. Gray]

I think what I was saying falls under that definition.

Would not swear to it, though.

[dnalexander]

Good job Larry. Waldo is the resident historian around here in my opinion. I am happy to have another fellow history buff on board. Thanks to both of you I learned a lot.

David

[W. Gray]

The Bureau of Land Management web site provides this definition of a land patent:

"Land patents document the transfer of land ownership from the federal government to individuals. Our land patent records include the information recorded when ownership was transferred."

The web site has a search for land patents issued in Kansas.

I inquired on Amos Andrews and came with "nothing found."

There were about 75 Andrews listed for Kansas but none for Elk County.

I then searched on Elk County, Kansas, and came up with only seven names and the land patents were all issued in the 20th century. Two were issued from the Independence Land Office and the other five from the Topeka land office.

Chautauqua County had seven names and all of these land patents were issued in the 20th century with one in 1945.

What all this means: I don't have a clue.

[W. Gray]

http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Image.asp?PatentDocClassCode=MV&Accession=0609-087&Format=LargeGIF&Page=1&Index=6&QryID=75473.16


Here is a web site that shows the land patent document issued to Elisha W. Palmer of Elk County in 1907.