Why are these patents significantly important for researchers studying Kentucky emigration?
As lands opened in federally-controlled public domain states, such as Missouri & Illinois, settlers may have traveled through the Jackson Purchase. Land sales “West of the Tennessee River” and decreasing costs per acre could have resulted in land patent involvement or ownership in the Purchase area prior to relocation outside Kentucky. Conversely, settlers from nearby states may have acquired land in the Purchase area when the Jackson Purchase land sales were initiated in 1821. By featuring an all-names index on this website, researchers can determine the names of persons involved in the patenting process including those who simply witnessed an assignment on a given day.
