Under the Virginia Land Law of 1779, residents of the Kentucky District could purchase Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants if they met certain residency requirements. Persons in Kentucky County prior to January 1, 1778, who had made an improvement and planted a crop of corn, were eligible for 400 acre Certificates of Settlement for the land they had improved. They could purchase an additional 1000 acres, adjoining the Settlement tract, under a Preemption Warrant.
Anyone in Kentucky County, Virginia, after January 1, 1778 and before May 1779 (when the Land Law was written) was eligible for a 400 acre Preemption Warrant for the tract on which they had made an improvement and planted a corn crop.
A Land Commission was appointed to hear testimony from Kentucky County residents and their witnesses; the Commission then decided who qualified for Certificates of Settlement, 1000 acre Preemption Warrants and 400 acre Preemption Warrants. The Commission for the Kentucky District consisted of William Fleming, Edmund Lyne, James Barbour and Stephen Trigg. The Commission conducted their hearings in Harrodsburg, St. Asaph (Logan's Fort), Boonesborough, Bryants Station (near Lexington), and the Falls of Ohio (Louisville).
This database is indexed by Preemption Warrant number, the individual acquiring the Warrant & Certificate of Settlement, immediate assignees, and tract location. Microfilm of the Certificates of Settlement and authorizations for Preemption Warrants is available for research at the following facilities: Secretary of State's Land Office, Kentucky History Center and the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives (all in Frankfort), the Filson Club and the Sons of the American Revolution Library (both in Louisville), and the Library of Virginia (Richmond, Virginia.)
We have included information on the resulting patent number and series for the Kentucky Preemption Warrants and Certificates of Settlement. Many of the patents in the "Authorized" field are linked to scanned images of the patent file; patents are added to the website daily. Digitized images of the Commissioners' Approval for Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants may be available by clicking the Preemption Warrant Number field. With the permission of The Library of Virginia, the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives is digitizing microfilm of the Commissioners' Approvals. Records are added to the "Certificates of Settlement and Preemption Warrants database" on a regular basis.
Some counties in present-day Virginia and West Virginia are also included in this index. For information on patents authorized by those Preemption Warrants, contact the Library of Virginia (Richmond, Virginia).
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