The history of Texas land grants is a deep and complex one. When researching land records, historical land grants can affect the records one may uncover. Between 1716 and 1836, both Spain and Mexico gave out land grants for settlers to travel and start colonies in the state of Texas. Afterward, Mexico continued to offer grants for colonization purposes. Eventually, the State of Texas began giving grants to single families and single men, which were categorized into "classes" based on time frame. As you can see, searching for land records may take some understanding of the history of land grants in Texas. Those who are researching land grants should be aware of the various changes in time frames, grantors, and grant purposes.
Spanish Land Grants
From 1720 to 1836, over 4200 land grants were issued by Spain and Mexico. These grants covered almost 26 million acres of land. The grants allowed for Spain and Mexico to encourage building and populating large tracts of land in Texas. In 1835, the government of Texas shut down the land offices and the act of giving grants because the revolution was on the horizon. When researching land grants, it is important to note, Spanish grant records hold valuable information on land distribution before 1836. Records include documents like family registers, field notes, certificates, official contracts, correspondence, and more. These are a great resource for researching early family history and are some of the most thorough and organized documents available.
Republic and State Land Grants
After winning independence from Mexico in 1836, the Republic of Texas resumed the process of giving land grants. Many grants were given to soldiers who served in the Texan war as an honor for their efforts. The General Land Office was established in Austin in 1837, and was responsible for granting land, settling disputes over previous grants, and recognizing previous grants. The grants that were given to settlers were categorized into 4 classes:
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Class 1 - Settlers who were given land grants by Spain and Mexico prior to 1836.
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Class 2 - Settlers who were given land between March 1836 and October 1837
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Class 3 - Settlers who were given land between October 1837 and January 1840.
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Class 4 - Settlers who were given land between January 1840 and January 1842.
These class designations may be helpful when researching grants in a certain time period. Even after Texas was annexed from the U.S in 1845, it still retained control of its land and continued to issue land grants. Because Texas was a poor state during this time, land was used as the primary way to pay off debt, reward military personnel, develop economically, and finance municipal construction. Land was the predominant currency of Texas until the early 1900s. In addition to these widely issued grants, the republic of Texas also issued other, more uncommon land grants. Until the late 1800s, Texas gave preemption grants to settlers who lived on a land tract for three years. The German Emigration Company also gave out grants to German emigrants who wanted to move to and settle in Texas. It's important to note these records are written in German.
The End of Land Grants
Finally, in 1898, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that was nolonger vacant land to be granted. In the subsequent audit that occurred, it was actually found that the public school system had been shorted over 5 million acres of land it had been promised. Two years later, an act was passed to make up for the school fund shortage. All remaining public land that was available was given to the school fund. The fund still exists today as public lands can still be sold to provide revenue for schools. These records will be indexed between April 1874 and current.
