The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-06-05
The Homestead Bill.

hS ioiioHiuS 10 d eoffect copy VI the
Homestead Bill as passed by both Houses
of Congress, and signed by the President: ::
An Act to Secure Homesteads to Actual Set
tiers on the Public Domain, and to Provide
| Bounty for Soldiers in lieu of Grants of
! the Public Lands.
Be 1t enacted 1y the Senate and House
| Of Representatives, Of the Iaitcd States Of
! Aneeyicd an Congress assembled: That any
! person who is the head Of family, or
| who has arrived at the age of twenty-one
| years, and is citizen Of the United States,
| or who shall have flied his declaration of
intention to become such, as required by
| the naturalization laws of the United
| States, and who has never borne arms
against the United States Government, or
given aid and comfort to its enemies,
shall, from and after the 1st of January,
1868, be entitled to enter one quarter
section, or less quantity, of unappropri-
ated public lands, upon which said person
may have filed a pre-emption claim, or
which may, at the time the application is
made, be subject to e-elnption at 81 %,
or less, per acre or eighty acres or less
of such unappropriated lands, at 50 80 per
acre, to be located in body, in comfor-
nifty to the legal subdivisions of the pub
lie lands, and after the same shall have
been surveyed: Provided, That any per-
son owning and residing on land may,
under the provisions of this act, enter
other land lying contiguous to his or her
said land, which shall not, with the land
so already owned and occupied, exceed in
the aggregate 100 acres.
, h
That the person applying for the benefit
of this act shall, upon application to the
Register Of the Land Office in which he
or she is about. to make such entry, make
affidavit before the said Register or Re-
ceiver that he or she is the head of fam
lily, or Is twenty-one years or more Of age,
or shall have performed service in the
army of the United States, and that he
has never borne arms against the Govern
mcnt Of the United States, or given aid
and comfort to its enemies, and that such
application is made for his or her exclu-
sive use and benefit, and that said entry
is made for the purpose of actual settle
ment and cultivation, and not either di-
rectly or indirectly for the use or benefit
of any other person or persons whomso-
ever; and upon filing the said affidavit
with the Register or Receiver, and on
payment of SO, he or she shall thereupon
be permitted to enter the quantity of land
specified: Provided, however, That no
certificate shall be given or patent issued
therefor until the expiration of FIVE years
from the date Of such entry; and if, at
the expiration Of such time, or at any time
within two years thereafter, the person
making such entry-or if he be dead, his
widow; or in case of her death, his heirs
or devisee; or in case Of widow making
such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of
her death-shall prove by two credible
witnesses that he, she, or they have resi-
ded upon or cultivated the same for the
term OF five years Immediately succeeding
the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid,
and shall make affidavit that no part of
said land has been alienated, and that he
has borne true allegiance to the Govern
mcnt of the United States then, in such
case, he, she, or they, if at that time
citizen of the United States, shall be en-
titled to patent, as in other cases provi-
ded for by law And provided, further,
That in case of the death of both father
and mother, leaving an infant child, or
children, under twenty-one years of age,
the right and fee shall enure to the bene-
fit of said infant child or children I; and
the executor, administrator, or guardian
may, at any time within two years after
the death of the surviving parent, and in
accordance with the laws OF the State in
which such children for the time being
have their domicil, sell said land for the
benefit of said infants, but for no other
purpose and the purchaser shall acquire
the absolute title by the purchase, and be
entitled to patent from the United
States, Oh payment Of the Office fees and
sum of money herein specified.
SEC 8 And be 1t further enacted, That
the Register of the Land Office shall note
all such applications on the tract books
and plats of his Office, aud keep a register
Of all such entries, and make return there
of to the General Land Office, together
with the proof upon which they have been
founded.
II, SEC f. And be it further enacted, That
lands acquired under the provisions of
act shall in any event become liable
Ie satisfaction of any debt or debts,
0sg ..acted prior to the issuing of the pat
'lerefor.
sc s. And be it further enacted, That
kany time after the filing of the aft
f2s required in the section of this
Dec. IS before the expiration Of the five