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Owen C. Coy, in his book on the county archives of California (see County Resources), classifies the land records in four pre-statehood categories. The earliest relate to the Spanish (1769–1822) and Mexican (1822–48) land recordings and are mostly in Spanish. The bulk of the surviving records are in the county recorders' offices. The most notable collection of this period is undoubtedly the recorder's collection (1781–1850) in Monterey County, but it covers a multitude of proceedings as Monterey was the seat of government for Alta California. Santa Cruz has a similar set of documents (1797–1845), and the San Jose clerk's archives hold various records from 1792.
During the Spanish period, California was divided into four districts for purposes of administration: San Diego in 1769, Monterey in 1770, San Francisco in 1776, and finally the district of Santa Barbara in 1782. For the period of Mexican jurisdiction, there are two major collections, one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco; with the larger group of land records in San Francisco.
Under both the Spanish and Mexican regimes, land in California was allocated first to pueblos for the use of its towns and its inhabitants, second to presidios for use of the military in defending the citizenry and in keeping the peace, and third to the Catholic missions for the purpose of extending the church's theology to the native population.
Almost as soon as the last of the edifices in the chain of missions was completed in 1833, the Mexican government secularized all mission lands and allowed these lands to be bought for private use. Spain had begun the practice of allowing concessions of private ranchos when, in 1784, Governor Pedro Fages bestowed ranchos upon three of his soldados de cuero (leather jacket troops) that he had led into California in 1769. These ranchos were San Rafael, San Pedro, and Los Nietos. By 1851, when the U.S. Board of Land Commissioners and the courts of record began hearing land claims cases, there were over 900 private land claims of named ranchos and an additional twenty-six unnamed grants. From 1851 through 1856, the Commission heard 813 cases in which title to over twelve million acres was decided. Of these, the board approved 520 claims and refused to recognize 273. Only a fraction of these decisions were overturned by the courts. Since the land commission met in San Francisco, a great hardship was created for the Southern California claimants.
Records pertaining to Spanish and Mexican land claims were bound into seven volumes by the U.S. Surveyor General's Office, a part of the Department of the Interior. For details write to the U.S. Geological Survey Office, 119 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22092. The records of the Bureau of Land Management (Record Group 49), Private Land Claims No. 183, are located in the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Robert Cowan writes in Ranchos of California (see Background Sources) that there were 3,500 people in Alta California, and by the end of the Mexican administration in 1846 the population had increased to almost 7,000. The Alta California records for the period of the Mexican-American war, 1846–48, may be found in the archives in Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties.
During the Spanish and Mexican occupations, a government agent called the alcalde was the equivalent of our present-day mayor, only with greatly enhanced powers and singular jurisdictions (singular in that he performed many functions not commonly associated with that office today). Several counties have preserved their alcades' records for the period between when California statehood became official. Counties with such records include: Contra Costa, El Dorado, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Sutter, and Yuba.
Mission lands, comprising about one-sixth of Upper California, were secularized in 1833 and by 1846 were parceled out to some 500 ranches which generated numerous records and documents. Land acquired by the U.S. Government in 1848 was disposed of by means of “patents.” Records of these will be found in various recorders' offices and include patents as well as Spanish and Mexican grants of the rancho holdings.
In general, counties are responsible for maintaining records concerning each parcel within its jurisdiction. The county recorder is usually in charge of the document, book notation, index, etc., except where the records are so old that they have been placed in an archive within the county or in the state archives in Sacramento. Ultimately, the county board of supervisors is responsible for the records and repositories. In order to chart the ownership of land in California, the records are done with a “chain of title.” This record begins with the oldest entry of the land down to the most recent.
Records throughout the state begin with the formation of the county, with the possible exception of those counties where there have been unusual circumstances, such as the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. Contact the county recorder for the county in which the land is situated. In some instances the parent county must be searched also.
The county recorder is usually in charge of the document, book notation, index, etc., except where the records are so old that they have been placed in an archive within the county or in the state archives in Sacramento. Ultimately, the county board of supervisors is responsible for the records and repositories. In order to chart the ownership of land in California, the records are executed with a "chain of title." This record begins with the oldest entry of the land down to the most recent.
A compilation of indexes to real property owners was begun in the 1980s. In the alphabetical lists (for 1 July 1984, 1988, and 1989, available at the California State Library), one can find the name and mailing address of all property owners. Because the state no longer allows open access to all driver's license applications and city and county directories are not available for all locations, the Property Owners Index is quite useful for tracing living persons.
For further reference, in addition to Ryskamp's Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage, see:
- Beers, Henry Putney. Spanish and Mexican Records of the American Southwest: A Biographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press, 1979.
- Cleland, Robert Glass. The Irvine Ranch. San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1976.
- ———. The Cattle on a Thousand Hills: Southern California, 1850–1870. San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1941.
- Cowan, Robert G. Ranchos of California: A List of Spanish Concessions, 1775–1822 and Mexican Grants 1822–1846. Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, 1977.
Land Definitions
The following definitions will be useful for anyone conducting research in California:
- Haciendas: The Mexican equivalent of “rancho”; not widely used in California.
- Ranchos: Land grants made by the government. The first one made in California was for 140 varas near Carmel.
- Pueblos: Towns for civilian settlers, a tract four square leagues or 17,500 acres.
- Presidios: Land granted for the use of the military to carry out its duties to defend the province against foreign invasion and to keep civil order. Title was actually passed in fee simple. Presidios were established in Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Diego, and San Francisco.
- Missions: Land set aside for the use of the church in its work with the Indians native to the area. Title was not passed to the mission, nor to an individual. After the Act of Secularization, the missions were broken up and the lands were mostly granted to those making a petition to the government. Of some 800 ranchos which were in existence when the U.S. government took possession of California, just over 500 were later confirmed by American courts.
- Districts: There were originally four districts set up for the administration of each province of Alta California, as mentioned earlier. Later, Los Angeles was added to the list. Each district had a presidio and a mission, although there might have been more than one mission in each.
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Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"
Prior to the Civil War, more than eighty-five percent of all Americans owned or leased land. Therefore, almost every researcher, whether a seasoned professional or weekend hobbyist, has required land records to document the existence, association, or movement of an individual or ancestral family. While many researchers may feel a sense of historical excitement when finding an ancestor in a land deed, many also fail to understand the importance of such a document and how land can be used to make vital links between generations; they are not aware that it can bridge distant origins and help solve even the most difficult problems. E. Wade Hone,
In Land and Property Research in the United States
U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1, Vol. 2 or Vol. 3
The right to own land has always been one of the great incentives for living in the United States. Yet researchers often overlook the importance of land records as a source of family history information. Written evidence of people’s entitlement goes back in time further than virtually any other type of record family historians might use.
Land records meet the needs of researchers in different ways and contain a variety of genealogical and historical data. They are a major source of information for many family histories and provide primary source material for local history as well. They are closely related to probate and other official court records and should be investigated in connection with them. Land and property are leading issues in the settlement of estates, and the majority of civil cases in the courts deal with real and personal property. Although land records rarely yield vital statistics, in many instances they provide the only proof of family relationships. Often they include the names of heirs of an estate (including daughters’ married names and a widow’s subsequent married name) and refer to related probates and other court cases by number and court name. In some places where other records are scarce, the land records take on extra importance. Occasionally these documents disclose former residences and more often provide the new address of the grantors or heirs at the time of the sale of the property.
Land records provide two types of important evidence for the family historian. First, they often document family relationships. Second, they place individuals in a specific time and place, allowing the researcher to sort people and families into neighborhoods and closely related groups. One of land records’ most important qualities is that they are sometimes the only records that allow us to distinguish one person of a common name from another.
The National Archives has bounty-land warrant files, donation land entry files, homestead application files, and private land claim files relating to the entry of individual settlers on land in the public land states. There are no land records for the original thirteen states or for Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Hawaii. Records for these states are maintained by state officials, usually in the state capital. Searching for the record of a particular land grant from the federal government requires contacting both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Archives (NARA).
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