Land grants (generally 40 acres) were given in token of military service during the Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Indian Wars, the Mexican War, the Florida War, and the War of 1812 or in recognition of volunteer service in a state militia.

The Soldier Land Grants collection (MS 1306) contains 359 United States Land Office certificates of title for soldiers, their heirs, and assignees, dated from 1848 to 1881 and arranged alphabetically by the last name of the soldier.

Here’s an example of one signed by President Franklin Pierce in 1854 granting land to Corporal James Alexander who was a captain in McMullin’s Company of the Georgia Volunteers, during the Cherokee War.