Land patent files and cert. of naturalization - citation ?

Cormac, when you obtain a file, and intend to cite the whole file, then you cite that file according to the type of file it is. When you need to cite a specific document in that file, you identify the document (by creator, title/description/number/etc. of document, and date of document), then identify the file it appears in.

This principle  holds whether the document in that file is a military bounty land certificate or a power of attorney (as per examples at EE 11.28) or a naturalization certificate.

Cormac, thank you for providing the additional data specifically identifying the file as a Homestead File. Yes, as 11.22 cautions, it is important that we identify NARA land files by the labels that the General Land Office used to divide and arrange its records. Your generic reference to "land patent documents" could apply to almost any of the land-entry files. Identifying the file as a Homestead File is important to its identification and relocation at NARA.

As such, yes, either model 3 or 4 under 11.23 would apply in your case, depending upon the year in which the patent was issued.

Yes, your "guess" is right on target, Cormac. The first element of the citation is where you place the name of a document that appears in a file, when you are citing a file from an archival collection.

As a side suggestion: It might help you here if you'll go back to the chapter in which archival sources are introduced—Chapter 3, "Archives and Artifacts"—and read the first few pages of background. Note particularly the two bullets at the top of p. 119, EE 3.3.  As you've probably suspected, even though Chapters 3–14 each deal with a different class of records, all chapters build on the instruction that came before it. Many users find it helpful, after studying the first two foundation chapters, to read the first few few pages of each chapter where more-specific principles are discussed.

I used a 3rd party service to obtain my land files from NARA.  Do I need to include this in the citation?

cwhermann28, are you relying in any way upon information provided by that person? 

At first blush, we might ask a different question: If this were a book I ordered from Amazon, would I cite Amazon or just the book?

However, other issues can arise when documents are involved. For example:

• If we ask our on-site person to actually research a collection and supply all relevant material, then we are relying upon that person's judgment and expertise in recognizing clues and connections. In that case, adding a sentence or two to explain could later be very valuable.
• If our citation depends upon details supplied by our record-retrieval agent (e.g.: file name, collection name, RG name and number, etc.) and those details are not self-evident from the images, then our citation would logically cite what we can verify for ourselves (Letter from Lieutenant XYZ to General ABC, dated 4 July 1850 at Whateverville, p. 3), and then add a second layer to say "document supplied by My Wonderful Record-Retrieval Agent, citing yada, yada, yada."

In 11.22 HOMESTEAD FILES a distinction is made between pre 1908 patented or unpatented files and post 1908 serial patent files.  The models in 11.23 all note the are for pre  1908 files.  Should my post 1908 files be sited differently.  My draft for citing the entire post 1908 file:

Jacob P. Hermann (Nez Perce county) serial patent files, final certificate no. 03880, Lewiston, Idaho Land Office; Land Entry Papers, 1908-51; Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives, Washington DC.

I assume if I was citing a specific document in the file I would follow model 3 with the above changes.

Also, the information provided with the file indicates a BOX NO. 23253, NNTH-S and HM 1993.  Do these need to be included in the citation? And, can I add a notation at the end indicating (cwhermann28 obtained images Jan2020)

cwherman, what agency or archive provided you with the post-1908 files? As a rule, unpatented files and serial patent files are not going to have the same identification. While all Land Office files at NARA are in Record Group 49, they would not have the same subseries name. In your draft citation above, you cite "Land Entry Papers, 1908–1851 in RG 49. Is this the identification given to you by the agency or archive who supplied your files?

Hi, Curt,

I’ll take the issues in the order in which you raise them.

1. “The examples in 11.23 are all for homestead file[s].”

Actually, example 1 is for cash entry files. Example 2 is for credit under files. Examples 3 and 4 do both cover homestead files but from different perspectives. Example 3 covers instances in which you need to cite a specific document from a file. Example 4 covers a citation to the whole file.

2. "I noticed in the example the Land Office is not a separate layer, rather it is part of the layer that identifies the certificate/patent number.”

To clarify, the identity of the regional land office (not "The" national-level General Land Office) is attached to the certificate number. That is because the certificate number is not a national number, it is specific to the regional land office. If we are citing a record that is not specific to a regional office, then we simply do not name a regional office here.

3. “The information card provided by NARA has ‘records of the general land office' so not sure where that goes.”

“General Land Office” is the original name of the agency now called Bureau of Land Management.  At https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx you will find the Department of the Interior’s website Bureau of Land Management: General Land Office Records.” If you’ve not studied this already, it will help you understand the records that were created and how they have been organized.

Also, the National Archives has published an online “Guide to Federal Records.” At https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/049.html, you will find an extensive discussion of the agency currently named Bureau of Land Management, which begins with a discussion of its holdings of the old General Land Office. 

The billions of records at the U.S. National Archives are organized within a highly complex scheme, one that seems arcane and over-wrought until we learn the framework. Citations are also complex, quite long, and much of what is needed to locate specific records will seem unnecessary until we understand the place that descriptor occupies in the hierarchy. This "Guide to Federal Records" is especially useful to understand the scheme, which places a specific set of records into a larger series, which is part of an even larger series, etc., until we get to the Record Group that represents the agency itself.

4. “Also, should the box number (which is also on the Land Entry Files information cards) be noted someplace?”

EE’s chapter on federal records begins with a discussion of archival organization and general principles for citing them (EE 11.1 “Citing Federal Records”). That will help you understand the “layers” that exist when citing something from a mammoth archival system and what each layer represents. In that discussion, on p. 558, you’ll find this:

CITING ARCHIVE BOX NUMBERS

NARA requests that you not use box numbers in citing its materials. Those change as documents are reprocessed for better preservation or service.”

Hope this helps.

Not really, and I apologize, my question should have been worded more precisely.

I was using the term homestead files to refer to the broad group of files other than serial patent files. I should have stated none of the examples in 11..23 are for serial patent files. Where I used the term Land Office I should have said State/Local Land Office. Also, I should have explained the “Records of the General Land Office” is on the information card supplied with files for the serial (post 1908) patents, but not on the cards supplied with the files of the pre 1908 patents. (see below)

It also does not help that, the terminology used is not consistent, sometimes the term “serial patent” is used to describe patents issued after June 1908, yet in the BLM database “Serial Patent” is used to describe the document type, regardless of date or if it was issued under cash entry, homestead, state volume, state land grant, etc.  Sometimes, even within EE, Homestead Files is used in a broad sense and broken into sub categories and sometimes it is used to describe specific types of files.

My question(s) extends beyond this one citation. My ancestors were part of the western movement that “homesteaded their way” across the country starting in Ohio and ending in Washington and Oregon. As a result I have identified 15 different patented land files along with a number of application files noted in the tract books that were later canceled. Of those 15 different land files, pre-1908 issued patents on the BLM database note document types as Serial Patent, Timber Culture Patents, State Volume Patents, and Military Script. The authority includes: 1862 Original Homestead, 1865 Free Indian, 1820 Sale Cash Entry, Script Warrant and State Grant Agriculture. The land office is mostly the local land office, but some list the state and some list ”assigned for automation.” The post 1908 patents all list the document type as serial patent, but the authority and land office vary across the board similar to the pre-1908 patents. I have done a lot of research and feel comfortable how lands were claimed under each of the homestead acts.  I was in the process of obtaining files and received 6 before the National Archives shut down a year ago. Two are post 1908 and the other four are pre-1908 (two are Cash Entry and two are Homestead Final Certificates.”

I am trying to understand how to take the information from the NARA supplied cards and create the citations so I am not having to come back to the blog with each different type of file I may receive.

Here is the information layout on the pre-1908 cards:

The first line:  “RG 49 Records of the Bureau of Land Management.”

The second line:  “Land Entry Files – State”

The third line:  Location (Town) of issuing land office, YYYY-YYY” or

The fourth line:  “Cash Entry” or “Homestead Final Certificates”

It then notes what I presume to be the range of patent numbers contained in the box.

Using the examples in EE it is pretty straight forward what info goes into what layer (specific to broad) in the citation and how I would cite and individual document within the file. However the information on the post 1908 files differs and I am not sure what info goes into what layer.

The cards supplied with the post 1908 patents contain:

The first line is still “RG 49 Records of the Bureau of Land Management.”

The second line is “Records of the General Land Office”

The third line is “Serial Patent Files, YYY-YYYY.

There is no fourth line

The info about the certificate numbers included in the box is also noted on these cards.

So this goes back to my original question: What does the format of a citation for land files associated with post-June 1908 patents look like? I used the same “specific to general” but my first draft does not include the City, State of the local and office because it is not on the actual data card. My second example includes this, although the patent was not issued by them.

At the risk of opening another can of worms, I will ask some additional questions. One of the files I have is for a pre-1908 patent that is noted on the BLM database as a State Volume Patent. The NARA card is labeled as “Homestead Final Certificate” – should I ignore the Document Type listed on the BLM database and work just with information supplied by NARA?

Also, will the fourth line of the information cards I have yet to receive follow the Authority/Act under which the patent was issued? For example, in addition to Cash Entry Files or Homestead Certificates, I may also see Timber Files, Indian Free Files, Scrip Warrant Files, etc.?

cwhermann28, below, I'll repaste portions of your message and respond to those portions: .

CW: My question should have been worded more precisely. I was using the term homestead files to refer to the broad group of files other than serial patent files. ...

EE: Ah, yes! Specific language is essential when dealing with records from a mammoth and complex archive.

CW: It also does not help that, the terminology used is not consistent, sometimes the term “serial patent” is used to describe patents issued after June 1908, yet in the BLM database “Serial Patent” is used to describe the document type, regardless of date or if it was issued under cash entry, homestead, state volume, state land grant, etc.

EE: If you are comparing terminology used at the website created by database designers, you may find some variances from what the archivists use. As a basic rule: When you are citing the database, use the terminology there to identify the database item. If you are citing textual material from the archives itself, then use its language. 

By and large, however, when NARA refers to something by one term and uses a seemingly different term for what seems to be the same thing, there really is a difference and that difference really does matter in the identification and location of the material.

CW: Sometimes, even within EE, Homestead Files is used in a broad sense and broken into sub categories and sometimes it is used to describe specific types of files.

EE: can you provide a specific example for us to analyze?

CW: My question(s) extends beyond this one citation. ... I am trying to understand how to take the information from the NARA supplied cards and create the citations so I am not having to come back to the blog with each different type of file I may receive.

EE: That is good. We definitely need to understand what we are using.

CW: Here is the information layout on the pre-1908 cards. The first line:

• “RG 49 Records of the Bureau of Land Management.”
• The second line:  “Land Entry Files – State”
• The third line:  Location (Town) of issuing land office, YYYY-YYY” or
• The fourth line:  “Cash Entry” or “Homestead Final Certificates”
• It then notes what I presume to be the range of patent numbers contained in the box.

Using the examples in EE it is pretty straight forward what info goes into what layer (specific to broad) in the citation and how I would cite and individual document within the file. However the information on the post 1908 files differs and I am not sure what info goes into what layer. The cards supplied with the post 1908 patents contain:

• The first line is still “RG 49 Records of the Bureau of Land Management.”
• The second line is “Records of the General Land Office”
• The third line is “Serial Patent Files, YYY-YYYY.
• There is no fourth line
• The info about the certificate numbers included in the box is also noted on these cards.

EE:  This is the common problem for everyone who needs to cite an original file from NARA.  This is why we need to understand NARA’s organization scheme. The item we are using is part of something larger, which is part of something larger, which is part of something larger, etc.

Turn to EE 11.2 “Citing Federal Records.” This explains how the files are organized. That hierarchy demonstrates the order in which we cite the pieces of data, moving from smallest to largest:

• Item of interest, with relevant names, item description, dates, page numbers;
• File Unit Name, date (or inclusive dates);
• Series Name, inclusive dates;
• Subgroup Name, inclusive dates;
• Record Group No.: Name, with inclusive dates if the name carries them; and
• Archive, location.

The NARA guide to which I linked yesterday supplies, for the type of records you are using, the specific data for each of these organizational levels. To convert that "box label" or "information card" to a citation, start reading with the bottom and read upward.

To use your second example:

• Item of interest: Here, you identify the specific document you are using .
• File Unit Name, date (or inclusive dates): Here, you identify the specific file you are using.
• Series Name, inclusive dates: Serial Patent Files, YYY-YYYY
• Subgroup Name, inclusive dates: Records of the General Land Office
• Record Group No.: RG 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management:
• Archive, location: National Archives, Washington DC. (If this is the archives from which you received it.

The citation to this would be created by stringing all this together in the same order, starting with the smallest and moving up to the largest:

          1.  Whatever document & date, Name of File and any date that’s part of the name; Serial Patent Files, YYY-YYYY; Records of the General Land Office; RG 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives, Washington, DC.

In your first example, the organizational scheme has an additional layer. If you compare each layer to the list in EE 11.1, you will see that the "information card" for your Example 1 has two lines at the “Series” level. That’s not uncommon. Series are often broken down into sub-series (or even further), just as record groups are broken down into subgroups.  Just follow the pattern of starting with the bottom line of that "information card" you are receiving and then read upward, line by line, to create your citation.

CW: So this goes back to my original question: What does the format of a citation for land files associated with post-June 1908 patents look like?

EE: It “looks like” those EE gives for cash-entry files, credit-under files, and homestead files. <g>  The structure is the same for every type of document we are citing at NARA. What differs is the exact wording that identifies the exact document, the exact file, the exact series, the exact subgroup, the exact record group, and the archives. The wording varies from one file to another. EE cannot give you specific wording that can be copied for every file because there could be millions of variations. 

CW:  I used the same “specific to general” but my first draft does not include the City, State of the local and office because it is not on the actual data card. My second example includes this, although the patent was not issued by them.

EE: With specific regard to citing regional land offices of the old General Land Office: some records are arranged by regional office; some are not. If it is arranged by regional office, the card data may indicate that.

Speaking more generally: the “data card” or box label that NARA sometimes film is not designed to supply researchers with a citation. Those labels were created by NARA for its internal needs. What they need for shelving purposes may or may not contain everything we need for a citation.  We are grateful when they film the box label, but the bottom line is always this: When we use a set of records, we have to learn what those records represent, how they differ from other records that might seem similar, how they are organized/accessed at the archive, and how to transfer these pieces of information into the basic format for citing archival records.

This is why I included the link to the online NARA guide. It takes much time to study this; and researchers would always prefer to spend that time on processing what they have and finding more records. But there is no way of getting quick answers for how to use and cite NARA materials. We have to understand the system.

CW: At the risk of opening another can of worms, I will ask some additional questions. One of the files I have is for a pre-1908 patent that is noted on the BLM database as a State Volume Patent. The NARA card is labeled as “Homestead Final Certificate” – should I ignore the Document Type listed on the BLM database and work just with information supplied by NARA?

EE: If you are using the website, then cite the terms and the organizational scheme used by the website. When the website database refers to a specific item at NARA, then put that detail in your "specific item" field and put quotation marks around the words you are quoting/copying from the database. 

If you obtain the records from NARA itself, then you are citing a different organizational scheme; again, use its language, not the database language. We cite what we use. In this case, it seems you are using two different things: i.e., the database, at which you identify records to order from NARA.  When we do this, we need to separate the two in our mind. If we cite the database, we use only the details that are there. If we cite the originals at NARA, then the database is a different entity.

CW: Also, will the fourth line of the information cards I have yet to receive follow the Authority/Act under which the patent was issued? For example, in addition to Cash Entry Files or Homestead Certificates, I may also see Timber Files, Indian Free Files, Scrip Warrant Files, etc.?

EE: It's not possible for me to tell you that the "fourth line" of “information cards” you receive will contain certain words or that any specific words will appear on certain lines of the card. It varies. Remember that these cards or box labels (or whatever type you receive) were created across many decades, by many different people, for many record types, each of which has its variances.

The best advice I can give here is this: When you receive a file that is a “type” different from what you have already used, go to NARA’s site, query for that record type, and read everything it tells you about it. Again, the online guide to which I pointed you yesterday will lay out the organizational scheme for that type of record. 

Thank you for all your assistance - . 

I currently have EE open to section 11, your link to the organization of RG 49, on another monitor and two NARA publications open on my desk: Leaflet 17 "Citing Records in the National Archives of the US"; and Information Paper 114 "Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office".  But the only thing I see is mass inconsistency and that I could spend the rest of my life just understanding the NARA system so I can create citation for a document I get out of RG 49. 

For starters, NARA paper 114 makes a distinction between what I assume is the record type: Land entry case files and the type of land entry, i.e. cash, homestead, timber culture etc. 

Based on EE and NARA Leaflet 17, I should be looking at the hierarchy of: Group, Subgroup, Series, File Unit and Record Type and that each level of the hierarchy should be a layer of the citation. The only thing that is consistent in all the resources I have in front of me is that I am working with RG 49.

Comparing the EE citation hierarchy, your example above and the RG 49 organization website, 49.2 - RECORDS OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, is the subgroup for post 1908 land entry files, but based on the NARA supplied information cards and the EE examples, the subgroup for the pre 1908 land entry files is LAND ENTRY FILES XXXX-XXXX.  No where on the website/link of the organizations of RG 49 do I see a subgroup 49.X titled LAND ENTRY FILES.  The only place I could find a reference to "land entry papers" ion the website was in the footnotes for subgroup 49.4 LAND STATUS RECORD, where it speaks about ". . . generated case files (commonly known as land entry papers) containing . . . titles or patents."  

If we go to the series level which I assume is 49.X.XX.  I do not find any series 49.2.x  SERIAL PATENT FILES XXXX-XXXX under the subgroup 49.2 RECORDS FOR THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE.  It appears the records for the individual land offices are at the series level 49.9.X under the subgroup 49.9 RECORDS OF THE DISTRICT LAND OFFICES 1800-1980.  No place do I see this subgroup used in any of the citations examples in EE or other sources I have reviewed. 

Adding to my confusion, is the example citation for a homestead file on page 5 in NARA leaflet 17.  First of all it notes the example can be used when "The file number is initial citation element when there is no record or file unit."   ?????? Looking at their hierarchy definitions, I would have thought the file is the FILE UNIT and documents within the file are RECORD ITEMS. Also, the example does not include the "Land Entry Papers, 1800-1908" layer:

Homestead file No. 2559, Tom J. McCue, June 6, 1891, Oberlin Kansas, Land Office; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49: National Archives Building, Washington , D.C.

So does this mean they are leaving out the subgroup level (avoiding redundancy) or does this mean they consider the the Local Land Office as a subgroup rather than a series. 

Also, the NARA paper 114 consistently uses the the terms "land entry case files" and  "documents" within them which would line up with the definitions for RECORD ITEMS and FILE UNITS in their hierarchy model in NARA leaflet 17.  The paper also define the terms "cash entry" "homestead" "timber culture", etc as the type of land entry, not as position on the hierarchy.  Yet it is needed to locate the file, and the information cards include it as one of the hierarchial levels.  

Anyway, what I thought was going to be a pretty straight forward approach to create a template/system has that would help generate, what I refer to as citations that meet "EE standards" for the variety of land entry case files I have is going to require significantly more effort than I have the time or interest to undertake.  When I look at the hours I have spent reading NARA publications, EE and trying to reconcile terminology just to generate what will be maybe 15 -20 citations, I could have made a significant dent in creating the citations for my 250+ deed records.  

I appreciate all your help and insight, but I thing the best path for me is to just cut and paste the pre 1908 examples from EE11.23 where I confident they work and worry about the rest later.

Curtis, I totally understand your frustration. This is a good time to remind ourselves of something: There is never consistency across historical records or within government. {smile}

On a more positive note, the hours you've spent studying NARA guides will help you going forward in ways you cannot anticipate right now.

And, yes, this is why EE does not dictate models and insist they be followed to the "T."  Inconsistencies and variables require flexibility. EE's goal is to better equip researchers to evaluate what they are using and make decisions about how to use and cite them.