, 1863-05-30
The Homestead Law.

the STATESMAN in July last, butt appears
that there are great many persons in this
county who are without copies of this i'm
portant law. It is as follows:
AN ACT to secure homesteads to actual set
tiers on the Public Domain, and to pro-
vide 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
America in Congress assembled: That any
person who is the head of family or who
has arrived at the age Of twenty-one years,
aud is citizen of the United States, or
who shall have filed his declaration Of in
tention to become such, as required by the
naturalization laws of the United States,
and who has never borne arf against the
United States Government. f.4 given aid
and comfort to its enemies, IN from and
after January lst, 1868, be entitled to en-
ter one quarter section, or less quantity,
of appropriated public lands, upon which
said person may have filed a pre-emption
claim, or which may, at the time the appli-
cation is made, be subject to pre- emption
at $l,25, or less, per acre; or eighty acres
or less Of such unappropriated lands, at
So, 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 provided, 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 aggre-
gate 100 acres
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted,
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 af-
fdavit before the said Register or Receiv-
er that he or she is the head Of a family, OF
is twenty-one or more years Of age, or
shall have performed service in the army
of the United States, and that he has new
er borne arms against the Government Of
the United States or given aid and comfort
to its enemies, and that such application is
made for his or her exclusive use and ben
eft, and that said entry is made for the
purpose cf actual settlement and cultiya-
ticn, and not either directly or Indirectly
for the use or benefit of any other person
or persons whomsoeyer; and upon filing
the said affidavit with the Register or Re
ceiver, and on payment of $40 he or she
shall thereupon be permitted to enter the
quantity Of land specified provided, low
ever, 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
persons making such entry Or if he be
dead, his widow or in case Of her death,
his heirs or devsee; or in case Of wild
ow making such entry, her heirs or devisee,
in case of her death-shall prove by two
credible witnesses that he, she, or they,
have resided upon or cultivated the same
for a term Of five years Immediately sue
ceeding the time of filing the affidavit
aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that
no part of said land has been alenated
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 ca
ses provided 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 benefit
of said infant child or children; and the
executor, administrator, or guardian may
at any time within two years after the death
of the surviving parent, and In accordance
/ A. 81, l. Too
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 a
patent from the United States, on payment
Of the office fees and sum of money herein
specified.
SEC g. And 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 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
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted,
That no lands acquired under the provis-
ions Of this Act shall i'll any event become
liable to the satisfaction of any debt or
debts contracted prior to the issuing of the
patent therefor.
SEC 5. And be it further enacted
That if, at any time after the filing of the
affidavit, as required in the section of this
Act, and before the expiration of the FIVE
years aforesaid, it shall be proven, after
due notice to tie settler, to tbs satisfaction
of the Register of the Land Office, that
the person having filed such affidavit shall
have actually changed his or her residence,
or abandoned the said land, shall have
ceased to occupy said land for more than
six months at any time, then in that event
the land so entered shall revert to the Gov
ernment
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted,
That no individual shall be permitted to
acquire title to more than one quarter sec
ton under the provisions of this Act and
that the Commissioner of the General Land
Office is hereby required to prepare and is
sue such rules and regulations, consistent
with this Act, as shall be necessary and
proper to carry its provisions into enect !;
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 entitled to receive
when the same quality of lard is entered
with money, one-balf to be paid by the
person making the application at the time
of SO doing, and the other half on the is
sue of the certificate by the person to whom
If NAV he issned but this shall not he con-