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The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.


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Record Group Number: 000599
Series/Collection Number: .S 990
Creator: United States. Board of Land Commissioners.
Title, Dates: Confirmed Spanish land grant claims, 1763-1821.
Amount: 17.00 cubic ft.
1806.00 microfiche
7.00 microfilm reel
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Alphabetical.
Restrictions: ***RESTRICTED***: Access to originals is restricted due to their fragile condition;  microfilm and/or microfiche is first-use copy.
Terms Governing Use: Microfilm and/or microfiche is first-use copy; access to originals is restricted due to their fragile condition.
Biographical/Historical:     In 1822, the United States government established the Board of Land Commissioners to settle all outstanding Spanish land grant claims in the territory that Spain ceded to the U.S. in 1821 (3 U.S. Statute 709, May 8). The Board set up offices in Pensacola and St. Augustine to ascertain the validity of all titles and private claims to lands in East Florida and West Florida. The Board either supported or rejected the land claims based on the claimants' documentation.
Summary:     The series consists of "dossiers" containing the papers filed in evidence and confirmed as valid claims before the Board of Land Commissioners. Each land claim with its supporting documents was later encased in a manila jacket on which appears the name of the applicant, the number of acres claimed, disposition of the claim, and page reference to the American State Papers. The supporting documents include petitions or memorials to a governor for land; surveys or plats; attests; deeds of sale, gifts, wills, bequests, and exchanges; applications; and translations of Spanish documents. Most of the documents for claims in West Florida are missing.
Finding Aids: Folder listing and name index available.
Additional Physical Form: Scans of microfilm produced by FamilySearch available at the Archives.
Portions of this series have been digitized and are available on the Florida Memory web site: https://www.floridamemory.com/discover/historical_records/spanishlandgrants/
Microfilm and microfiche.
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
Language Notes: Mostly in Spanish.
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note: Spanish land grants in Florida / prepared by the Historical Records Survey Division of Community Service Programs, Works Projects Administration. 2nd ed. Tallahassee : State Library Board, 1942.
General Note:
Electronic Records Access: https://www.floridamemory.com/discover/historical_records/spanishlandgrants/
Subject Access Fields: Spanish Florida claims.
Land grants Florida
Land surveys. aat
Plats. aat
Florida History To 1821
East Florida.
West Florida.
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