The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1862-05-31
The Homestead Bill.

tiers on public domain. and to provide
bounty for soldiers in lieu of grants of
the public lands.
Be It enacted By the Senate and House of
Representatives of'the United States Of amer
ico in Congress assembled: That any per-
son who is the head of a family. or who has
arrived at the age of twenty -one years. and
is citizen of the United States, or who
shall have fled his declaration of Intention
to become such, as required by the natural
ization laws of the United States, and who
has never borne arms against the United
States Government, or given aid and COM
fort to it, enemies, shall from and after the
Ist of January. 1868, be entitled to enter one
quarter section. or a less quantity of unap-
propristed Public Lands, upon which said
person may have fled pre-emption claim.
or which may, at the time the application
is made, be subject to presumption at $I95
per acre, or eighty acres or less of such I'M
appropriated lands. at &c. so per acre, to be
located in body, in conformity to the legal
subdivisions of the public lands. and after
the same shall have been surveyed: Provi-
ded, That any person 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 $50 acres.
SEC. 9. And be It further enacted, That
the person applying for the benefit of
this act shall, upon application to the Regis
ter of the Land Office in which he or she
is about to make such entry, make afida-
Wit before the said Register or Receiver,
that he or she is the head of family, or
is twenty -one years or more of age, or shall
have performed service in the army of the
United States, or who have not given
aid or comfort to its enemies, and that
such application is made for his or her
exclusive use and benefit, and that said en-
try is made for the purpose of actual settle
ment and cultivation, and not, either d.
rectly or indirectly. for the use or benefit of
any other person or persons whomsoever;
and upon filing the said affidavit with the
Register or Receiver, and on payment of
$40, he or she shall thereupon be permitted
to enter the quantity of land specified: Pro-
vided, however, that no certificate shall be
given or patent issued therefor until the ex-
piration 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 a widow ma
king such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case
of her death-shall prove by two credible
witnesses that he, she or they may have re-
sided 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 Government of the
United States; then, in such case, he, she or
they, if at that time citizen of the United
States, shall be entitled to patent, as in
other cases provided by law: And provided,
| farther, That in case of the death of broth
er, father and mother, leaving an infant child,
or children under twenty-one years Of age,
the right and fee shall inure to the benefit
of said infant child or children; and the ex-
ecutor, 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 nave their domicile, sell
said land for the benefit of said infants, but
for no other purpose, and the purchaser
shall acquire the the absolute title by pur-
chase and be entitled to a patent from the
United States, on payment Of the Office fees
and sum of money herein specified.
Sec. Sind be It further enacted. That
the Register of the Land Office shall note
all such applications on the tract books and
plats of his Office, and keep register of all
such entries, and make return thereof to the
General Land Office, together with the
proof upon which they have been founded.
Sec. 4. Ard be 1t further enacted. That
no lands acquired under the provisions of
this act shall in any event become liable to
the satisfaction of any debt or debts con-
tracted prior to the issuing of the patent
| therefor.
SEQ. 5. lind be 1t further enacted, That
if, at any time after the filing of the affida-
Wit, as required in the second section of this
act, and before the expiration of the five
years aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due
notice to the settler, to the satisfaction OF
the Register Of the Land Office, that the
person having fled such affidavit shall have
actually changed his or her former resi-
dence, or abandoned the said land, shall
have ceased to occupy the said land for
more than six months at any time, then. il
that event, the land so entered shall revert
TO the Government.
SEC. 6. Ind be It further enacted, That
no individual shall be permitted to acquire
title to more than one quarter-sectio un-
der the provisions of this act; and that the
Commissioner of the General Land Office is
hereby required to prepare and issue such
rules and regulations, consistent with this
act, as shall be necessary and proper to car
ry its provisions into effect; and that the
registers and receivers of the several land
!. Offices shall be entitled to receive the same
} compensation for any lands entered under
the provisions of this act that they are now
IL Il e.