The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-19

AiaDama. IL involves the great estate 3 l the late Hugh Carlisle of Guntersvill , | who. at his death, a few years ago, owr Cd more land and had more tenants tha , any citizen of the Southern States. MI , Carlisle was in the ante-bellum days | well known civil engineer who was on
 Alabama. He was working up the con
 struction of the Tennessee and Coos
 Railroad at the beginning of the civ
 war. The war so interfered with the en | terprise that 1t was abandoned and 10
 MT. Carlisle's services he was paid large
 ly in lands which had been granted thu
 railroad by the State and that original, | from the government. When MT. Carlisl
 sought to make his title good, much of th'
 land had been occupied along the route
 of the railroad which connected Gunters
 vile and Gadsden and litigation followed
 which finally reached the United States
 Supreme Court and resulted in confirm
 ing the title of the claimant to much oi
 the land which he alleged came to him
 by purchase from the railroad, the pur-
 chase being the payment he received from
 the railroad company for his construction
 work. Moreover, Mir. Carlisle was him.
 self the largest stockholder in the rail- l road company.
 The land coming to Mir Carlisle through | his deals amounted to nearly 5000 acres.
 nearly all of which got to be occupied l land. and hence the dispute.
 A test case, which, by the decision of the Secretary of the Interior. sends all of the cases back to Huntsville land office. where proof must be made in every case that there was a purchase and title for Carlisle before he can hold the land, ts the case of Martha Creel against the heirs of Hugh Carlisle. With this case there will go back to the Huntsville office
 for final disposition the following addi-
 tlonai cases that have come before the
 General Land Oflce, all against the same
 defendant: Josiah France. Rex P. Ram dal. Eliza c. Williams William H. Tay- Tor, William H: Boatright, Reuben B: AL
 len. Eva A. Winslow, Carrie and William
 Taylor. George w. Cobb, John w. Wright, Henry W. Nipper, George W.
 Yarbrough. N. C. Denham. Rutha N. Levins. James W. D. Wright. James F.
 Niles. Henry Whisenant. Elisha M. Hawk and others.
 The Secretary of the Interior, Assistant Secretary Thomas F. Ryan acting. in dis posing of the cases named. gives the fol- lowing decision:
 "The Department returns herewith the
 records in the separate appeals of sundry
 homestead claimants from the decision of holding for cancellation the respective homestead entries made by said claim
 ants within the primary limits of the Ten nessee and Coosa Railroad. Said entries
 were held for cancellation for conflict with the claims of the heirs of Hugh Car lisls. alleged purchasers of said lands from the railroad company under it's grant of June 8, 1856.
 ''The cases are returned to your office in compliance with the request Of the at- torney for the heirs of Hugh Carlisle in "rder that they may proceed under the act of March 3, 1908, authorizing the issue ot certificates for the location of other lands in lieu of the lands which the rail- road company. its vendee or successor in Interest, may have recovered from a homestead entryman by virtue of the ti- tie claimed by the railroad company. Said cases will be disposed of fin accordance with the letter of the Department of this date in the case of Martha Creel."
 The following is the text of the Depart ment's decision which disposes of the cases as above indicated:
 "The tract in question is part of an odd numbered section within the primary limits of the grant made to the State of Alabama by the act of June 3, 1856, to aid in the construction of a railroad from the Tennessee river. at. or near. Gunters Landing. to Gadsden. on the Coosa river, and conferred by the State on the Ten nessee and Coosa Railroad Company. While it Is part of the one hundred and twenty odd sections within the six mile, or primary. limits along the first twenty miles of the road as definitely located from Gunter's Landing. 1t was not em- braced in any list of lands selected by. and certified to, the company. Said tract, with other tracts similarly situated. was. therefore, restored to settlement and en- try under the decisions of the Department of January 30. 1891, and Martha Creel was. on April 27, theerafter. allowed to make homestead entry; o, Upon pS ruary 21 1896. Hugh Carlisle protested a againsN It's acceptance claiming to be purchaser of said lands from the railroad company. The local officers recomend- ed that the final proof be accepted but, upon appeal, your office reversed their de- cision and cancelled the entry on the ground that. under the decision Of the Supreme Court in the case of the United States against the Tennessee and Coosa Company Q76 U. s., 242), the land inured to the railroad company un- der its grant. as part Of the 120 sections which the company was authorized to sell | road.
 Your office, from time to time. trans mitted the appeals of other homesteaders | who have made entry of lands similarly | not appear from the records in any of | said cases that the tract in question had | been sold by the company to any one as | part of the 120 sections: 1t was authorized | of the road. actions of all of said appeals | was suspended and you were directed to | notify the protestants that they would | be allowed sixty days in which to file in ! the alleged sale under which they claim. |
 With your letter of April 21. 1903. you transmit communication from the att torney of Anna J. Henderson of Colbert | County. the surviving heir of Hugh Car isle, calling attention to such cases and stating that his client desired to proceed | under the act of March B. 1903. flor the relief of certain homestead settlers in the State of Alabama" in which event, ne suggested. the Department would be released of the further consideration of l large number of these cases. In view of the fact that he requests that the time in which he is required to submit 'Yidence of the sale of sail land be ex- ended from sixty days to six months in order that an opportunity may be given to proceed under said act of March 3, 1903
 "'The purpose of the above named act Is Q induce the railroad companies named herein to release to the United States or the benefit of homestead claimants he title to lands which the companies IT. their vendees or successors in inter- 'st. may have recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction from homestead claimants who have been allowed to enter hem. provided said recovery was made " virtue of the title asserted and claim d by the railroad companies to the srant
 ''As the act is for the relief of the homestead claimants, no reason is appar- mt why the time should not he extended IS requested. in order that protestant may lave an opportunity of proceeding under aid act If no application for a certih- ate of location of other lands accom- 'anied by the proper showing. is filed within that time. you will dispose of said under the following Instructions: "The mere fact that the land involved n this appeal is part of the first 120 odd ts of inc grant along the first twenty niles of definite location from Gunter's