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Every civil engineer at one time or another must go down to the records department and search for information pertaining to property, ownership or any number of things related to public documents. Today, I have compiled a handy list of words and terms found commonly in public record documents. In addition,  I have supplied a few links to public record databases that can be found online.  Keep them bookmarked just in case you need them in the future!  If you know of one that I missed, feel free to drop it in a comment below the list.

WORDS AND TERMS USED IN PUBLIC RECORDS


ABSTRACT - A summary of the important points in a book or manuscript.
ABSTRACTOR - A person who prepares an abstract.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE - An epitome of the successive conveyances and other facts
upon which a person's title to a piece of land rests.
ADMINISTRATION - The management and disposal, under the local authority, of 
the estate of an intestate, or of a testator having no competent executor.
ADMINISTRATOR - A person to whom letters of administration, that is 
authority to administer the estate of a deceased person, have been granted 
by the proper court. He/She differs from an executor in that he is 
appointed by the court, while the executor is appointed by the deceased.
ADMINISTRATION WITH WILL ANNEXED - Administration granted where the testator
has appointed no executor, or where his/her appointment of an executor, 
for any cause, has failed, as by death, incompetency or refusal to act.
ANTENUPTIAL CONTRACT - A contract made before marriage, between a man and a 
woman in respect to their property rights.
APPLICATION, LAND - A formal request for rights in, or eventual title to
public lands.
ATTEST - To witness the execution of a written instrument, at the request of
one who makes it, and subscribe to the same as a witness.
BEQUEST - A gift by will; a legacy.
BOUNTY LAND - Land given by the government, as a bounty, usually in 
compensation for military service.
BOUNTY LAND WARRANT - A right granted for military service, involving a 
specific number of acres of unallocated public land.
CADASTRAL SURVEY, MAP OR PLAT - A public land survey for the purpose of 
registering the quantity, value, and ownership of real estate, used in 
apportioning taxes; usually made on a scale of 25" to the mile, or a
square inch to the acre.
CODICIL - An instrument made subsequently to a will, and modifying it in 
some respects. It must be executed in the same manner as the will 
itself, and forms a part of it.
DEED - A sealed instrument in writing, duly executed, and delivered, by 
which one person conveys land, tenements, or hereditaments to another.
DEVISEE - A person to whom lands or other real property are devised or 
given by will.
DIVISOR - A giver of lands of real estate by will; a testator.
DISTRICT LAND OFFICE PLAT BOOKS - Books of maps which show the location
of the land of the patenter.
DISTRICT LAND OFFICE TRACT BOOKS - Books which list individual entries
by range and township.
DONATION APPLICATION - An application for frontier land in Florida, 
New Mexico, Oregon or Washington, which was given to a settler and 
fulfilled certain conditions.
ET. AL.; ET ALIBI; ET ALII - And others; on a land deed, is a clue to 
look for "the others".
EXECUTOR - A person appointed by a testator to carry out the directions 
and requests of his/her will, and to dispose of the property according
to his/her testamentary provisions, that are to be carried out after 
his/her death. An EXECUTRIX is a female executor.

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  • PATENT - A document which transfers legal title to public lands.
    PATENTEE - A person who receives a patent.
    PRE-EMPTION APPLICATION - An application by a person who had already 
    settled on unappropriated land.
    PRIVATE LAND CLAIM - A claim to land granted to individuals from foreign 
    countries prior to the cession of that land to the United States. 
    These were in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana,
    Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, and New Mexico.
    PROBATE - The process of proving a will or settling an estate.
    PUBLIC DOMAIN - Public lands of the United States; comprised, Illinois, 
    Indiana, Michigan, part of Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
    and all states west of the Mississippi River except Texas,Hawaii, and Alaska.
    STATUS PLAT - A copy of the plat of survey upon which has been diagrammed 
    and noted such information as is necessary to determine the Federal 
    ownership of public lands and resources.
    TESTAMENT - The disposition of one's property after death.
    TESTATE ESTATE - An estate which is disposed by will.
    TESTATOR - A deceased person who died leaving a will.
    TRACT BOOK - A narrative, journal-like record which is an index to and 
    digest of all essential actions and transactions which effect public 
    lands. District Land Office Tract Books list entries by range and 
    township.
    WARRANT - To guarantee to a purchaser or other grantee, the title to, or 
    quality, or quantity of, the thing sold or granted, as a warranty deed.
    WILL - Any legally executed instrument in which a person makes disposition 
    of his/her property to take effect after his/her death.

    Here are a few links to public records databases that you can use to search online:
    CourthouseDirect
    PublicRecords.Online.Searches
    Netronline
    If you have any that you think I missed, please drop them in a comment below.  I'm sure the community will appreciate it.

  • LAND ENTRY PAPERS - Papers filed in connection with the acquisition of 
    public lands, and including bounty land warrants, donation, pre-emption 
    and homestead applications, private land claims, land scrip and purchase 
    by cash or in installments. They include the name of the person who
    acquired the land, his place of residence, dates when application and 
    land were entered, and date of patent.
    LEGACY - A bequest left by last will and testament.
    LEGAL DESCRIPTION - The description and identification of the location of 
    a particular parcel of land, according to the official plat of survey.
    LIBER - A book in which deeds, mortgages, wills and other public records 
    are kept.
    NUNCUPATIVE WILL - An unwritten will, having been declared or dictated by 
    the testator in his/her last sickness, before a sufficient number of 
    witnesses, and afterwards reduced to writing.

  • GRANT - To give or bestow, as a land grant.
    GRANTEE - A person to whom a grant is made.
    GRANTOR - A person by whom a grant is made.
    HOLOGRAPHIC WILL - A will made in the handwriting of the testator.
    INTESTATE - Not having made a will; not disposed of by will.
    INVENTORY - A list of the assets in the estate of a deceased person, 
    filed by executor, or administrator of an estate, in probate court.

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