Abbott Land Records Wexford County, Michigan – Land Patents

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to early residents of Wexford County, Michigan with the surname Abbott. Papa’s second great-grandmother was Mary Jane Abbott; I have undertaken a study of the early Abbott deeds to look for connections to her and her family. I know that her brother Erasmus D. [E.D.] Abbott was in Wexford County, but have not connected any others to her at this time.

I am shifting gears for on post to the Bureau of Land Management Land Patent records. Although I have found many of the purchases from the U.S. government later recorded in the local records, the two documented purchases by Erasmus D. Abbott have escaped my scrutiny to far. Before I cover deeds under which he sells property he bought from the US, I want to show the locations of the grants.

I have found two at this time.

The first, certificate #1312, issued 20 August 1873, application #2795 on for land described as: W1/2 of the NW 1/4 Section 10 T23N R10W.

The other was certificate #1766, issued 1 November 1880, application 6162, for the #1/2 of the NE 1/4 Section 4, T23N R10W. Erasmus sold this land to his brother-in-law, Papa’s ancestor, George W. Burdick in 1874. I described this sale on at the beginning of my series. I do not understand the sequence of events regarding this piece of land. Erasmus D. Abbott appears to have sold it to Burdick before he actually held a title. It would be interesting to see the application, payment receipts and proof in the land patent file. However, since the price for the files is so high, I am not likely to order the fine any time soon. Perhaps Erasmus decided he owned the land as soon as he filed the application; then later realized he needed to file the final papers. Proof was required that the land was improved, and constantly occupied. Applicants typically noted the number of acres cleared, the permanent plantings made, the house and any other buildings. The also swore they had continuously occupied the land.

Here are the location of the two pieces, marked on a thumbnail I created from the old 1889 Atlas¹. You can see George Burdick’s name on the land in section 4, marked in blue.

1. E.L. Hayes & Co., Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan / compiled by Eli L. Hayes from government surveys, county and township records, and personal investigations and observations , Eli L. Hayes, (Chicago, Ill.: E.L. Hayes & Co., 1889), page 29; digital images, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928170.0001.001 : accessed 28 April 2010.