A deed is the first document in the series for an original
land purchaser. It is evidence of his right to a specified amount of unlocated
land.
The second item in the series of documents used to transfer
land to private ownership is a warrant. A
warrant is an order to survey the land in question.
A deputy surveyor following the warrant conducts a survey. The survey is
usually drawn on paper showing corner markers and adjoining landowners are
named. In earlier surveys, however, the survey was sometimes only a verbal
description.
A patent is the final deed from the proprietary or the Commonwealth government conveying all rights to a particular tract of land. It completes the transfer of ownership and is issued after the warrantee satisfies the fees and purchase requirements.
Federal Land Patent Records - Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States. Also image access to more than two million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States, issued between 1820 and 1908. Images of Serial patents (land titles issued between 1908 and the mid-1960's) are currently being added to this web site.