Assignments on bounty land warrants are always interesting. Many recipients of these warrants did not actually travel to federal lands and stake out their own claim. Instead they assigned them to someone who was willing to make that claim. Some of those individuals who purchased the warrants actually patented real property themselves, others assigned them to other individuals, and others patented property with the intention of speculation.

That’s what probably happened in this case–but further research is necessary.

Andrew Trautvetter was a Mexican War veteran and actually rather young. Many of those who assigned their patents during the mid-1800s were War of 1812 veterans who were of an age where “starting over” was not desirable.

Andrew Trautvetter has signed the assignment on the back of the actual warrant. An added benefit to this document is that his residence at the time of the assignment is also given. The assignment was made in Philadelphia on 23 February 1850.

Trautvetter’s warrant was based on the Act of 1847 and was for 16 acres–number 42250. Trautvetter was a musician in his unit.

In a future post, we’ll see more about Trautvetter’s service and his application.

Summary:

• Warrant assignments can provide signatures which can sometimes be used help establish the “sameness” of multiple individuals with the same name.
• Warrant assignments also should at least provide the county in which the individual was living at the time the assignment was made. How long they had lived there is another matter entirely.
• The assignor and the assignee may not have had any significant relationship with each other.

Note: Trautvetter’s connection to my Trautvetter family of Hancock County, Illinois, is not known. Additional military paperwork on him indicated he was a native of Saxeweimar which is where my Trautvetter family originated as well.