Then What? Part 10 BLM Homestead Applications Step Three of Three

Part 10: BLM Homestead Applications

Step One is how to search on the BLM site for a homestead application. This is a marvelous index.
Step Two is how to find the latitude and longitude for the property and locate it on Google Maps.
Step Three is how to find the patent on the Utah State BLM site as well as the Master Title Plat.

Case Study:
This case study is for John McCormick Wiser who was an original settler in Alpine but left by 1860 for Cache County. Tracing an ancestor from each place they lived adds immensely to a history. Land records are vital to tracking migration.

Step Three  How to find the patent on the Utah State BLM site as well as the Master Title Plat.

I want the patent image too so I click on the tab "Patent Image" and this is the result - No Image Available. The national BLM site doesn't have all the patent images. Sometimes for Utah this site has a patent image and sometimes it doesn't. However, the Utah BLM site does have them.

To get to the Utah BLM site go here: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en.html. On the far right Utah is displayed. On the far left is a list. To get to the search for patents click on the following steps: first click on Information Center, 2nd click on Online Services; 3rd click on Land; 4th click on Utah Land Records; 5th click on Search for Plats. 

The arrow above shows where to type in the Document Number. John M. Wiser is 655. The following image is of the results.

By clicking on the number 140n010e the Patent Image is displayed and can be saved or printed.

Last, to get a copy of the Master Title Plat that shows where each property is located go back to the search field. Instead of entering the Document Number go to the upper box and enter the Township and Range information. The following image is an example of how to do this.

The following image is the result of this search.

The last step would be to order the actual homestead application from the National Archives.

For further information on finding homesteads on maps check out Lisa Louise Cooke's webinar on Using Google Earth for Genealogy. She explains how to use earthpoint.us plus historical map overlays. This is a very valuable resource. [click here]

Pioneer Handmade Doll & Weaving Loom

These two delightful artifacts are a hand made 12" doll played with by Alpine pioneer children and a weaving loom. They can be found in the Alpine Relic Hall.

Margaret Vance McCullough Photo & Artifacts

 

From the Then What? Part 9 Margaret Vance married Thomas Jefferson McCullough on 28 November 1849. She and her husband are in the Jackson County, Tennessee 1850 census record listed as having been married within the year. Family records show their only child, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1851 and died 9 months later in Iowa. She and her husband traveled in the John Tidwell Company arriving in Salt Lake City between 10-23 September 1852 along with her father, Lewis Reno Vance and her brother John Wesley Vance. Her father died en route. The McCullough's and John Wesley Vance moved to Alpine in 1852.

They were prominent citizens. Margaret was Alpine's First Relief Society President, a position he held for 34 years. Her husband, Thomas, was the first Mayor of Alpine and served in that position from 1855-1883.

In the Alpine Relic Hall are many artifact items from this couple: Artifact 504 - a deed from Thomas McCullough to Mary Watkins, Artifact 522 candle stick brought across the plains from Tennessee by Margaret, Artifact 578 Wooden Peg & Square Metal Nail used in the construction of their home diagonally across from the Relic Hall, Artifact 625 Margaret's stachel, and  Artifact 643 book "Lectures to Young Men" owned by Thomas and the cloth binding was woven by his wife Margaret Vance McCullough.
 

A Guide to Putting Your Family in Social Context

Italian-American Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

 Although this book covers Italian-American family history it can used as an example for any ethnic group experience. Specific details on how to put one's ancestor into social and historical context and where to find the information needed are given. At the end there is a writing example showing how to apply what has been shown in the book.