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Arkansas Swamp Lands

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Arkansas is a public domain land state -- all of our land once belonged to the federal government. And the federal government gave 8,600,000 acres to the State of Arkansas to sell at reduced prices as swamp and overflowed lands. That's about one-fourth of the total land in Arkansas. And that land was found in nearly all of Arkansas' 75 counties.

Until now, the only record of these swamp land sales have been in chronological and geographical ledgers in the State Land Commissioner's office in the Capitol Building in Little Rock. These indexes open those records to genealogists. The records are important because they tie a person to a specific piece of land. Burned counties (counties in which the records have been totally or partially lost) are a fact of life in Arkansas. These swamp land sales records help fill in the gaps left in those missing records. Some of the sales are for thousands of acres; others for only an acre or two.

These indexes list the patentees' names, the patent date, patent and application numbers, land description (section, range, and township), number of acres, citation to the land office ledger, and notes about assignees, partners, attorneys, heirs, etc. On this website, we've listed just the names of the folks in the volumes.

Search well beyond a person's death date, because the patent may not have been filed until heirs decided to sell the land. The records through October, 1870, list the county in which the land was located. Introductory material in the books tells more about swamp lands and these records.

Check the lists of names for your folks. And remember, spelling was a creative art form, so look at all the variations.


Arkansas Swamp Land Sales, 1855 - 1868

Compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, ISBN 1-56546-209-2, 166 pages, softbound, $25.00

Click here to view the list of names in this volume

Order this book in .pdf format, ISBN 978-1-56546-491-9 - only $6.95 (no shipping charges)


Arkansas Swamp Land Sales, 1868 - 1879

Compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, ISBN 1-56546-210-6, 149 pages, softbound, $25.00

Click here to view the list of names in this volume

Order this book in .pdf format, ISBN 978-1-56546-492-6 - only $6.95 (no shipping charges)

Arkansas Swamp Land Sales, 1879 - 1921

Compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, ISBN 1-56546-211-4, 143 pages, softbound, $25.00

Click here to view the list of names in this volume

Order this book in .pdf format, ISBN 978-1-56546-493-3 - only $6.95 (no shipping charges)

Arkansas Swamp Land Sales, 1921 - 2001

Compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, ISBN 1-56546-212-2, 157 pages, softbound, $25.00

Click here to view the list of names in this volume

Order this book in .pdf format, ISBN 978-1-56546-494-0 - only $6.95 (no shipping charges)

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