Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-11-19
HOmeSteads.

The homestead law provides q very
simple yet certain way of securing a
home at little expense. Under these
| laws every citizen, or persons OF for
eign birth who have declared their IN
tention Of becoming citizens, over the
age Of twenty-0ne if single, Or heads
of families, can enter one hundred
and sixty acres Of surveyed land not
mineral IN character.
After having selected tract and
ascertained it's description, the settler
should go to the local land office and
sign an application and subscribe to
the required affidavit. The applica-
ton describes the land, and the afida-
Wit sets forth the facts respecting his
age, citizenship, etc. He will then be
required to pay to the register and re-
ceiver OF the land Office The govern
ment fee and that part of the CONS
mission which is payable when the
entry is made, according to the
amount Of land entered, being $14
for $50 acres and 81 for 80 acres.
When the applicant has settled GA
the land he desires to enter, but is
prevented by bodily infrnity, dis
lance Or other good cause from visit
ing the land Office in person, the aft
daYit may be made before the clerk of
the court for the county within Which
the land is situated; and the affidavit,
together with the application and
money, can be forwarded to the regis
ter and receiver.
Having selected and entered the
land, he will be required to establish
an actual residence thereon within six
months from the date of the entry,
and that residence must be continued
without abandonment, for more than
six months at any one time, for five
years. Il he has family his family
must also reside on the land. While
the law allows a temporary absence
(of not more than six months at any
one tirne), it requires that the resid>
ence and improvement Of the land
shall be actual and substantial. The
settler cannot sleep on the land one
night every six months and call it
residence, neither can he pile q few
logs or poles together and cal it a
cabin. st the end of five years from
date Of entry, Or within two years
thereafter, he can submit to the land
oficeas proof Of MS residence cultiva-
ton, etc. This proof can either be
made before those officers or before
the judge of a court of record of the
county in which the land is
situated. He will then be re-
quired to pay the balance of
the commissions (being the same
amount as the commission paid when
entry was made, when the patent
certificate will issue on which the
Government patent Or deed is execut-
ed. He need not necessarily make his
proof Tor, as it is commonly termed,
s'prove up'O at the end of FIVE years,
though he must do so within seven
years from the date of entry.
If the settler does not wish to re-
main upon the land the full period re-
quired, he can, after six months resi-
dence, prove up, but he will then be
required to pay for the land at the
Government price. This is called
committing an entry.
Every soldier or sailor who served
ia the army or navy of the United
States for ninety days during the late
Rebellion and was honorably discharg-
ed and has remained loyal to the
government, is entitled to receive on
the period of residence required on ais
homestead the time of his service in
the army or navy, providing such SER
vice does not exceed four years. One
years residence on the land is invari-
ably: required. Single women over
the age of 81, and married women
whose husbands have deserted them,
come within the provision of the law
and can take homesteads; and the
widow Gf unmarried, or in case of her
marriage the orphan children) of a
soldier can have the same privileges
and benefits that the soldier would
have were he alive.