Private land claim case files include such records as correspondence, reports, maps and plats, petitions, affidavits, transcripts of court decisions, deeds and abstracts of title. Wills, deeds, marriage certificates, and assignments may be found among these records because proof of title was required. For the most part, they are certified copies of original documents. These files do not include the original grant or other documents of the previous government other than translated copies. Genealogical information varies considerably in the private land claims.
Some claims mention only the name of the claimant and land location.
Others may show the place of residence when the claim was made and relatives' names, both living and dead. Often there is more information about heirs than for the claimant. The ten-volume set of the Papers and Grassroots reprinted by Southern Historical Press makes family data accessible that formerly was unavailable to many researchers. The Papers span an early period of American settlement and opens new opportunities in areas where data is often difficult to find. The data in these volumes, when combined with early land transactions in both the State Land and Public Domain States, furnishes a large reservoir of largely untapped family information.