The early land grants were made by the crown to individuals who would develop colonies or plantations. These large grants were divided and granted or sold to individuals. Later, after statehood, the states claimed large tracts of land from treaties or acts of Congress. We find that some land was given in exchange for war services. Georgia has a listing of bounty lands. They also had the most unusual way of assigning over Indian territory to the settlers. People could establish the residence in a county and then draw lots for land in an opening county. They sometimes didn't win the draw but they may be listed as drawers. They may not have established their residence upon the new land but sold it in order to move on to a more desireable location. Here are some of the records from Georgia.

History of Gwinnett County, Georgia. by Marvin N. Worthy, Vol. III: A Land and It's People. P. 84. Copies sent by Margorie Wages

The Sixth Land Lottery and the First Gold Lottery of Georgia (The Cherokee Land and Gold Lotteries of 1832. The 408th District Company of Georgia Militia, Capt. Levi Loveless, commanding.

These were the winners in the drawings:

Winning drawer	Lottery	Land Section	District	Lot	No. of Acres
Jeremiah A. M'Clung	Land	2nd	Fourteenth	275	160
Reuben McClung	Gold	3rd	First	290	Fraction

We need someone to begin a seach of these records. They include surveyor's notes, correspondence of heirs and claimants, papers relating to court action for fraud, evidence of marital status, parentage, previous military service, and place of residence.

The originals of these records could prove to be very valuable to these family records. Would you write to inquire of the cost of these searches?