It has been estimated by reliable historians that upwards to 95% of the colonial population held sufficient property during their life time to vote. Property records contain a higher degree of genealogical proof than any other source. Family member’s are identified by names, dates, and relationships.

If you are lucky enough to have a line back to the first census (1790); and wonder what you are going to search in next; the obvious thing is to see if they paid taxes on any land held. When we were still controlled by England they collected taxes from everyone, and kept good records of such transactions. This can be such a help in some cases where the neighbors became in-laws by a marriage between the children of each; and thus followed the same families around (or westward) when the left the East.

Some of the information that one might need to get the required amount of information for records on Oklahoma Homesteads are in the many Platte Books throughout our state. These give the land description and all of the livestock, buildings and machinery owned by the land holder.

Land entry papers for Oklahoma are in the Washington National Records Center, Archives Branch, 4205 Suitland Rd., Washington, D.C. 20409. Copies are available for a fee.

Record copies of the patents are in the Bureau of Land Management, Dept. Of the Interior, P.O. Box 1449, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Copies are available for a fee. Patents can be viewed and ordered online at the BLM web site.