The Indianapolis Donation Database was compiled by Anne Rodick, a "Friends of the Indiana State Archives" volunteer. All database information is derived from the original certificates issued at the time of purchase. Certificates were held by purchasers until the payments were completed. Upon receipt of the final payment the certificate was exchanged for a deed.
The Indiana State Archives is the custodian of the original Indianapolis Donation lot certificates. Each certificate contains a certificate number, square and lot numbers, original purchaser, the initial payment and date and any consequent payments and dates due. Frequently lots were relinquished and/or resold due to nonpayment. The reverse sides of many certificates contain the contractual agreements with subsequent purchasers.
The Indianapolis Donation database contains the certificate numbers, original purchaser and as many as four subsequent buyers. On the search form page, patrons may enter a last name in the search form. The response will list all records with that name entered in any of the five name fields in the database.
Patrons interested in learning more about the Indianapolis Donation can contact the Indiana State Archives for further information. Depending on the condition of the materials requested, it may be possible to order photocopies of the records. Upon request, the Archives staff can inform patrons of the possibility of ordering copies and of their cost.
Note: When sending an email to the Indiana State Archives, please be sure to include a very clear subject heading, i.e, Civil War, Soldier's Home, Hospital Records, Morton Telegrams, etc. Emails without a clear subject heading may be mistaken as spam or a potential virus and be filtered out automatically. If you have not received an initial response from the Indiana State Archives within a few weeks, please resubmit your request.