Ohio lands were surveyed and sold by the federal government, private individuals, and by two other states, Virginia and Connecticut. Since parts of the state were surveyed at different times, Ohio was divided into different "surveys" or "districts." Ohio also includes a number of smaller land grants, used for a variety of purposes. For example, the Refugee Tract was established by the Continental Congress to benefit residents of Canada and Nova Scotia who sided with the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Some of these special categories include the Moravian Indian Grants, French Grants, Zane's Tracts, Canal Lands, School Lands, Old Seven Ranges, Fire Lands, Canal Lands, Refugee Tract and University Lands.
See our Ohio Land Divisions Map to see the various surveys around the state.
The Archives & Library has records from the Congress Lands, the United States Military District, and the Virginia Military District. In the boxes below you will find more information about the original land entry and survey records available in the Archives & Library.
If you're looking for a more complete description of Ohio's land distribution, see the Ohio Lands Book available through the Ohio Auditor of State's website.
More detailed information about the many Land Divisions and Grants can also be found in the document "Ohio Land Divisions and Grants" linked below.
The Archives & Library holds the original land entry books kept by the Ohio Auditor of State which list the first purchasers of land in Ohio from the United States Government, including records of the United States Military District and The Virginia Military District, land reserved by Congress and Virginia respectively, as payment in lieu of cash for veterans of the Revolutionary War.
Tract & Entry Books; Information includes names of first purchasers, numbers of acres purchased, tract description (range, township and section numbers, and portion of section) and dates of purchase.
Surveyor's Plat Maps and Field Notes
Payment records from the Canton, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Marietta, Steubenville, and Zanesville Land Offices; Information includes names of purchasers, dates of purchases or payments, receipt or certificate numbers, tract descriptions, and numbers of acres.
Entry Books; Information includes entry number, names of person(s) for whom the survey was done, VMD warrant number used, number of acres claimed, and description of survey boundaries. (In most cases entry number is the same as the survey number)
Survey Books; Information includes names of person(s) for whom the survey was done, VMD warrant number used, number of acres claimed, description of the trees and waters used to mark the survey boundaries, dates of entry or survey, names of surveyors and chainmen, and a simple drawing of the survey.
We do not hold original entry or survey records, including plat maps, for any of the northeastern Ohio counties that are located in the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Firelands, as these lands were a part of Connecticut's western land claims. Records for the Ohio Company of Associates may also be found at Marietta College. For research assistance we suggest contacting the following sources:
Western Reserve Historical Society Library, 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106 (telephone: 216-721-5722)
Connecticut State Library, 231 Capital Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106, (telephone: 860-757-6500)
Marietta College, Special Collections, 740-376-4545 or speccoll@marietta.edu.
We do not have a record of the U.S. Patent issued to first purchasers from the Federal Government. After land was fully paid for, a U.S. Patent was issued. The Patent was sent to the local Land Office to be delivered to the owner. Next, the patent was recorded with the County Recorders Office and a deed was issued. Digitized U.S. Patents can be searched on the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records webpage. Please note that not all of the patents are digitized, but patents can be requested from their office directly.
We do not have a record of subsequent real estate transactions. These documents should be filed in the County Recorders Office of the county where the land is located or a predecessor county. A list of Ohio's County Recorders Offices can be found via the link. Be aware that real estate documents from 1800 to 1850 may not have been filed promptly. Often the patent was not recorded until the first sale by the original owner.