A reader asks this question, "I think my John Goebel had a homestead in South Dakota. How do I find it?"

The Homestead Act of 1862 permitted a citizen of the United States to apply for 120 acres of Public Domain land ­ land owned by the US government. This citizenship requirement prompted many immigrants to go to the courthouse and begin the citizenship process. The land applicants staked out their claim and filed papers at the local land office. After building a cabin, planting crops, and waiting the appropriate time, they became the proud owners of their own land, often for only the $15 filing fee.

The answers to the questions on the papers that the claimant filed with the land office are genealogical gold. They had to tell when did they claim their land, what improvements they made, what crops they grew, names and ages of their children, etc. The files are arranged by land office, legal land description, and certificate number. Since many genealogists do not know if their ancestor took out a homestead claim, this arrangement makes a search difficult to conduct.

It is difficult no more. With the Internet, all one needs is the name of the ancestor and the state where they lived. The Bureau of Land Management's Federal Land Patent Records Site maintains a searchable database. Select a state and type in a name. If an ancestor received Public Domain Land, you will see his (or her) name, the certificate number, the land office, and the legal land description. These are the items that you need to order the land claim file that is located in the National Archives in Washington DC.

If you do not have Internet access, take the web address to the public library or to a friend who has Internet access.

We found a John Goebel in the BLM database. His claim for 160 acres under the May 20, 1862 Homestead Act was issued on 23 November 1911. The land was in Stanley County, South Dakota. It is unknown if this John Goebel is our reader's John Goebel. The land claim file will tell us.

Copies of NATF 84, the required form, can be ordered by e-mail or by mail (National Archives and Records Administration, Attn.: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20408-0001).

© 2001-2006

Connie Lenzen, CG