United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes serialized land entry case files that were cancelled, relinquished, or rejected by the General Land Office for the years 1861 to 1932. The applications include homesteads, mining claims, and land preemptions. This collection includes Nebraska land offices at Alliance, Broken Bow, Lincoln, North Platte, O'Neill, and Valentine. The records are at the NARA Regional Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This collection is being published as images become available.


 * Land Offices Currently Available
 * Kansas
 * Dodge City, 1894-1919, nos. 1-14686 NAID 584041
 * Topeka, 1861-1925, nos. 1-5599 NAID 584006
 * Nebraska
 * Alliance, 1908-1932, nos. 1-18285 NAID 584054

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The records usually include:
 * Name of applicant
 * Date
 * Description and location of land

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the applicant.
 * The approximate date of application.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then: ⇒ Select the "State" category ⇒ Select the "Land office name" category ⇒ Select the "Record Type, Date Range, File no. range" category

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the name, location and date to find the family in census records, land records, and probate records.
 * Use the ages in those records to estimate birth dates and find birth, christenings, marriage and death records.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the United States Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Image citation: