The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-10-16


Register and Receiver OF the Land OF
tce appointed I 1t they were, wha
authority had Mr.. Gilman tor admins
tering to them the required oath =
And what authority had that boy to
administering the oath to Mr.. Ebber
when he made his application, October
I'd?
But We now come to q matter muot
more serious than any Of the foregoing
1t seems that some days before takioa
this homestead, Mr.. Ebbert lad gone
to the Land Office to make inquiries n
to where govern neut lands, open t.
homestead settlement, could be found,
indicating, at the same time, his pref.
erence for tho country in the direction
of Sank Centre and Alexandria. To.
stead, however, of giving him such il.
formation as Was requested, as was his
duty, Mr. Gordon used every ee6or'
possible to discourage him from ia.
king government land at all. and to
have him buy land belonging to him.
self (Gordon)! We give herewith q
voluntary statement made by Mr.. Ed.
bert, which tells how Gordon IS prosti-
tutiug tho United States Land Of
Zee to real estate Office of his owu
ST. CLOUD, Oct. II, 1873.
About two weeks ago, I came to the st.
Cloud Land Office to take claim on gov
eminent land. H. l.. Gordon. the Register
Of the Land Office, was present. told
Mr.. Gordon l wanted to take u claim on
government land, and that l woull like -
have him inform me as to where l could
find vacant land, that was unacquaint-
ed with the maps, and that he would prob
ably know al about these matters, from
his position 10 the Office. He told me
there was no vacant land near; that would
have to 60 very far away. l told him l
s~VNeuS W SVAu4 W ooOA NCutE0 Ut AlSX-
sndrls He (Gordon) told me there was
n" government land there near market
that l would have to 90 far away and
that if l found any it would be in wilder
ness or on prairie without any wood
Then he said, II will sell you . quarter
section, with timber, and brush, and hay
meadow on it, near Clear Lakewrter (iu
Wright Co., 20 miles from St. Cloud" He
said his brother lived there. He said it
was good one hundred and sixty acres
He cosxed me hard t. 60 there. l asked
him how much he would charge me for it.
he told mo $40. told him that was
mighty high, thstI hsdn't the money to
spare. He told mo it wsald pay me better
TO 60 there and pay that price for that
land than to 60 90 far from market and
take government land. He said he would
give me $lOc for my ''soldier's right, -
which 7ould leave the price Of his land
$40. He wanted to give me directions
how to 60 to his land and SEQ it. l did
not ask him to do so. told him I would
think it over. and il decided to take his
land l would come back and let him know.
he urged me strongly to buy this land,
and continually discouraged me from look
ing for government. land. My wife was
With mo in the office at the time, aud hea, d
this conversation. Afterwards he offered
to sell me 80 acres of maple wood, 10 miles
from St. Cloud, for 1886, or $500, do not
nov remember exactly which. left the
office, and afterwards, by direction of a
stranger whom met at the St Cloud de-
pot las was about to start for Sank Zen
ire and A'exandria) 1 went to Rich Prairie,
Morrison county, and there took 80 acres
as homestead-the same 80 acres de-
scribed in Application No. 5000; Final
Receivers Receipt No. 1862. To The best
Of my recollection there was no per-
son ID the Office during the time of this con.
versatlon with Gordon except H. L, Cor
don, my wife and myself. I saw no one
else.
Signed IN presence Of
E. H. WHITNEY.
As will be seen by this statement of
MI. Gilbert, Gordon, placed 10 the Land
Office for the very purpose of afTording
the information asked for, threw every
encouragement 10 the way Of the APP
pIicaut's taking government lands,
representing to him that the only vacant
land was in wilderness or on a tree.
less prairie, and far away from market
at that !; and then piled him with 10.
ducements to buy land owned by Cor.
don and held for just such opportunities
Of speculation, stating that it would DO
cheaper for him to pay Gordon's price
for land than to get government land
as a homestead aod Offering to pay
him 500 for his ''soldier's right. p
Failing IN making this sale, this real
estate agent 90 government salary of:
tered smaller tract at lower price.
Mr.. Ebbert, being poor man, had no
money With VIII CHI to buy the land Of
this specuIating public officer; hs had
come to avail himself of the benefits
Of the Homestead Act. Receiving no
information and meeting ooly with dis
couragement, Mr.. Gilbert left the Of.
fee and obtained from a stranger what
had been denied him at the Lind OF.
fee. He informs Us that Mr.. Gordon
met him in the street and again pressed
the purchase Of the land upon him.
1t will be noticed that Mr.. Gordon
chose we'll the time for attempting TO
force . sale, while there was no one
present but himself, Mr.. Ebbert and
his wife.
The people demand to know these
things, viz:
l. Whether the St. Cloud Land
Office is . government institution, or
whether it is private real estate, of.
fee !?
2. Whether Fl. L. Gordon is paid
$4,000 a.ysar, more or less, to attend
to the business Of the Land Of6oe or
to bis own personal speculations
3. Whether the Department will
countenauce and sustain a Register Of
the Land Office 10 discouraging settler:
from taking the public land. and en-.
deavoring to force them to buy lands