Gilliams who received Land in Alabama
Updated November 25, 2022
Background:
After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Government established laws to survey and sell land gained from Britain. The area that became Alabama was originally part of the Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1817. The defeat of the Creek Indians opened the heartland of Alabama to white settlement and caused Alabama fever to sweep the nation. Pioneers by the thousands left Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia seeking fertile land for growing cotton. Mississippi territorial law was in place, but when Mississippi became a state, Congress created the Alabama Territory in 1817.
Many settlers arrived in the area before government lands had been surveyed. Unable to buy, they simply picked a location, built a cabin, cleared fields, and put in crops. Such families were called squatters. Land laws were passed to provide legal title to land for settlers who already lived on the land. Some settlers claimed land by British or Spanish land grants, and others were squatters who claimed land by right of pre-emption.
Starting in 1804, U. S. Land Offices were established to sell land in the area which would become Alabama. By law federal land was sold to the highest bidders at public auctions. Alabama sales attracted men from all over the nation, many of them speculators. Groups of speculators bought large tracts, sometimes for as little as $10 an acre, then resold at $20 to $100 an acre. When an auction ended, poorer migrants could buy less desirable land for as little as $2 an acre. The smallest amount one person could buy was 160 acres. Under the Land Law of 1800 a purchaser could put one-fourth down and pay the rest off over three years. But when the price of cotton fell to eighteen cents a pound, few could meet payments on land bought at inflated prices. By 1820, Alabama owed the federal government $11 million--more than half of the national land debt. In 1820 and 1821 Congress passed new laws to deal with this problem. The Land Law of 1820 required future buyers to pay the entire amount in cash but lowered the minimums to $1.25 an acre and 80 acres. Those already in debt were aided by the Relief Act of 1821 which permitted them to keep part of their land and return the rest to the government or buy it all on the installment plan at reduced rates
Gilliams receiving Land in Alabama
Sorted by County
| Patentee Name | County | Issue date | Land Office |
| Gillian, William M | Blount | 4 Nov 1899 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, William | Blount | 5 Dec 1884 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, John | Blount | 3 May 1895 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Robert D | Blount, Cullman | 1 Mar 1858 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Isaac | Butler | 2 Oct 1854 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 1 Feb 1843 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 20 May 1837 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 3 May 1848 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 28 Jul 1838 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 2 Aug 1837 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Butler | 1 Sep 1858 | Greenville |
| Gilham, George W | Cherokee | 1 Nov 1884 | Huntsville |
| Gillean, Lorenzo D | Cherokee | 1 May 1845 | Lebanon |
| Gilliam, Robert D | Cherokee | 1 May 1845 | Lebanon |
| Gillean, Major M | Cherokee | 1 Jun 1845 | Lebanon |
| Gilliam, John | Cherokee | 10 Jun 1852 | Lebanon |
| Gilliam, John | Chilton | 20 Nov 1835 | Cahaba |
| Gilliam, John | Chilton | 15 May 1837 | Cahaba |
| Gillion, Isaac | Elmore | 18 Aug 1837 | Cahaba |
| Gilliam, Howel | Fayette | 10 Nov 1840 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillion, Henry | Fayette | 9 Apr 1917 | Montgomery |
| Gillion, John A | Fayette | 15 Aug 1917 | Montgomery |
| Gillion, Odie | Fayette | 28 Sep 1944 | Gen Land Office |
| Gilliam, Littleberry | Franklin | 14 Oct 1834 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Littleberry | Franklin | 14 Oct 1834 | Huntsville |
| Gillen, Isaac | Greene | 22 Sep 1835 | Demopolis |
| Gilham, Jesse | Hale | 1 Mar 1827 | St. Stephens |
| Gillum, John | Jackson | 3 Oct 1854 | Lebanon |
| Gillean, John | Jackson | 4 Oct 1898 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Salina | Jackson | 20 Nov 1847 | Lebanon |
| Gillum, John | Jackson | 15 Apr 1874 | Lebanon |
| Gilliam, John | Jackson | 51 May 1848 | Lebanon |
| Gilliam, Elias | Jackson | 1 Jun 1831 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, William H | Jackson | 15 Aug 1882 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, John | Jackson | 1 Sep 1849 | Lebanon |
| Gillen, John | Jefferson | 2 Jun 1823 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillen, John | Jefferson | 10 Sep 1827 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillen, John | Jefferson | 15 Feb 1912 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Howel | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Howell | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Peter | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Peter | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Peter | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, William | Lamar | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, William | Lamar | 15 Jul 1854 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Howell | Lamar | 2 Jul 1860 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillham, David G | Lawrence | 15 Jan 1919 | Montgomery |
| Gilliam, John B | Limestone | 22 Apr 1901 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Joseph E | Limestone | 10 Apr 1907 | Montgomery |
| Guilliams, George | Madison | 1 Jun 1831 | Huntsville |
| Gilliam, Richard Holland | Madison | 24 Apr 1957 | Washington Ofc |
| Gillian, William F | Marion | 3 Dec 1919 | Montgomery |
| Gillham, Thomas | Pickens | 10 Jun 1826 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillum, William | Pickens | 2 Jul 1827 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillam, Henry | Pickens | 30 Mar 1837 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillam, Henry | Pickens | 30 Mar 1837 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillum, William | Pickens | 4 Jan 1831 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Silas | Pickens | 20 Sep 1839 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Silas | Pickens | 20 Sep 1839 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Silas | Pickens | 20 Sep 1839 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Silas | Pickens | 20 Sep 1839 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillum, Solomon | Pickens | 20 Sep 1839 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, Reubin | Shelby | 17 Jun 1898 | Montgomery |
| Gillum, James L | St. Clair | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillam, Robert | Tallapoosa | 6 Oct 1840 | Tallapoosa District |
| Gillam, John | Tallapoosa | 10 Nov 1851 | Montgomery |
| Gillum, Yancy T | Tallapoosa | 1 Feb1860 | Montgomery |
| Gillum, Yancy T | Tallapoosa | 1 Apr 1850 | Montgomery |
| Gillum, Yancy T | Tallapoosa | 1 Mar 1858 | Montgomery |
| Gillum, Harris | Tallapoosa | 10 Jun 1848 | Montgomery |
| Gilliam, John | Tuscaloosa | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, John | Tuscaloosa | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, John | Tuscaloosa | 1 Jun 1858 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillen, Joshua W | Tuscaloosa | 1 Jul 1848 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gillian, William F | Tuscaloosa, Jefferson | 1 Dec 1891 | Montgomery |
| Gillam, William | Walker | 1 Dec 1851 | Tuscaloosa |
| Gilliam, William B | Winston | 25 Mar 1909 | Montgomery |
| Gilliam, William R | Winston | 22 Jun 1911 | Montgomery |
Sources
- Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. www.glorecords.blm.gov/