Land Office
From birchyHistory
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In the United States, title to land derives from a variety of sources depending on the history of the area in which the land is located. In the so-called “public land states” (including Montana), almost all lands are owned either by the Federal Government or by persons deriving their land titles from the Government. (Excepted were those lands granted to individuals from foreign sovereignties prior to cessation of the area to the United States. These were handled as private land claims.) The basic operating unit that effected the transfer of title of a piece of the public domain to private ownership was the district land office. When from time to time it was decided to open to entry certain portions of the public domain, a land district was created, usually by an act of Congress, and all transactions connected with obtaining titles to land in that area had to be initiated and carried on though the district land office. Until the 1920's each land district ordinarily had two officials in charge, a Register and a Receiver, who jointly conducted the business of the office. The receiver was primarily responsible for the moneys taken in at the office; the register for the necessary record keeping. A person wishing to make an “entry” (i.e., to initiate proceedings that if successfully completed would result in the issuance to him of a patent to a tract of land) of any type went before the Register and indicated the tract of land to which he desired to obtain title together with the class of entry he desired to make. The entryman, the Register, and the Receiver then filled out and signed a series of documents. In the early period these ranged from the simple applications to purchase and receipts executed on the spot in connection with cash purchases. Later there was an elaborate series of applications, proofs, affidavits, public notices, and other types of documents executed over a period of years in later homestead and mineral entries. Persons making warrant or scrip entries were required to surrender the warrant or scrip they owned to the Register at the time of making entry. When all requirements of the laws and of the General Land Office had been fulfilled, all papers executed or filed with the Register in the process of such fulfillment (including duplicate record copies of receipts and other documents issued by the register and receiver to the entryman) were forwarded to the General Land Office in Washington. These papers were always accompanied by a document which took varying forms but is now usually called a “final certificate” (in the case of warrant and scrip entries it is called a “certificate of location”). This document was a formal certification made by the Register of the district land office to the Commissioner of the General Land Office that an entryman had fulfilled all legal requirements for obtaining a patent to a described piece of land, and that he was entitled to such patent. The papers were then examined in the General Land Office and, if all was found to be proper, a patent was prepared and sent, usually to the Register of the district office where the entry had been made, for delivery to the entryman. The General Land Office was often so far behind in its work that there was an interval of six months to three years between the receipt of the land-entry papers and the issuance of the patent. The first district land office was opened at Steubenville, Ohio, on July 2, 1800; the last new land office at Newcastle, Wyoming on March 1, 1920. In the interval, some 362 district land offices were opened. In 1890 there were 123 active offices, the peak number. | In the United States, title to land derives from a variety of sources depending on the history of the area in which the land is located. In the so-called “public land states” (including Montana), almost all lands are owned either by the Federal Government or by persons deriving their land titles from the Government. (Excepted were those lands granted to individuals from foreign sovereignties prior to cessation of the area to the United States. These were handled as private land claims.) The basic operating unit that effected the transfer of title of a piece of the public domain to private ownership was the district land office. When from time to time it was decided to open to entry certain portions of the public domain, a land district was created, usually by an act of Congress, and all transactions connected with obtaining titles to land in that area had to be initiated and carried on though the district land office. Until the 1920's each land district ordinarily had two officials in charge, a Register and a Receiver, who jointly conducted the business of the office. The receiver was primarily responsible for the moneys taken in at the office; the register for the necessary record keeping. A person wishing to make an “entry” (i.e., to initiate proceedings that if successfully completed would result in the issuance to him of a patent to a tract of land) of any type went before the Register and indicated the tract of land to which he desired to obtain title together with the class of entry he desired to make. The entryman, the Register, and the Receiver then filled out and signed a series of documents. In the early period these ranged from the simple applications to purchase and receipts executed on the spot in connection with cash purchases. Later there was an elaborate series of applications, proofs, affidavits, public notices, and other types of documents executed over a period of years in later homestead and mineral entries. Persons making warrant or scrip entries were required to surrender the warrant or scrip they owned to the Register at the time of making entry. When all requirements of the laws and of the General Land Office had been fulfilled, all papers executed or filed with the Register in the process of such fulfillment (including duplicate record copies of receipts and other documents issued by the register and receiver to the entryman) were forwarded to the General Land Office in Washington. These papers were always accompanied by a document which took varying forms but is now usually called a “final certificate” (in the case of warrant and scrip entries it is called a “certificate of location”). This document was a formal certification made by the Register of the district land office to the Commissioner of the General Land Office that an entryman had fulfilled all legal requirements for obtaining a patent to a described piece of land, and that he was entitled to such patent. The papers were then examined in the General Land Office and, if all was found to be proper, a patent was prepared and sent, usually to the Register of the district office where the entry had been made, for delivery to the entryman. The General Land Office was often so far behind in its work that there was an interval of six months to three years between the receipt of the land-entry papers and the issuance of the patent. The first district land office was opened at Steubenville, Ohio, on July 2, 1800; the last new land office at Newcastle, Wyoming on March 1, 1920. In the interval, some 362 district land offices were opened. In 1890 there were 123 active offices, the peak number. | ||
| − | + | Vast tracts of public land became available for settlement. During the ensuing half century, much of this land passed to private ownership under the Preemption Act of 1841, the Homestead Act of 1862, the Timber Culture Act of 1873. Additional large acreages were reserved to the state as educational endowment land or granted to railroads as construction subsidies and subsequently sold to settlers. | |
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| + | ==THE PREEMPTION ACT OF 1841== | ||
| + | The principle of preemption became rooted in public land laws in 1801 when "squatter's rights" were recognized, to 1841 when "squatters" gained a "priority" right over all others, to buy their claim of public lands, up to 160 acres, at the Government established price. | ||
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| + | The Preemption Act preceded the Homestead Act by two decades. This law allowed individuals (same restrictions as described above in the Homestead Act) to preempt a quarter-section of land at a cost of $1.25 per acre (or $2.50 for land near the railroad). | ||
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| + | Before 1863, the most common type of land entry in the western territories was the preemption claim under the Act of 1841. This law and its later amendments allowed settlers to file a preemption on up to 160 acres of surveyed or unsurveyed land and to receive title after paying a minimum price per acre established by the Government. As long as the settler complied with the terms of the act, his claim "preempted" subsequent claims against the tract. The Preemption Act remained in effect until repealed in 1891. | ||
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| + | Filing a Preemption - Claimants had to be twenty one years of age, head of a family, and a U.S. citizen (aliens who had filed a declaration of intention to become a citizen-"first papers"-could file legal claims). The first step in filing a preemption entry was the completion of a declaratory statement at the land office. The declaratory statement (shown as "D.S." in the tract books) was merely a sworn statement signed by the settler which indicated that he or she had settled on a given tract of land and was declaring intention to claim said tract under the preemption law. This statement required the name of the claimant, residence, age, date of actual settlement, and a description of the tract. | ||
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| + | When filing a preemption on a tract of "offered" lands, that is, lands formerly offered at a public sale and not sold, the declaratory statement had to be filed at the land office within thirty days of actual settlement. When preempting a tract of land surveyed but not previously offered at public auction, i.e. "unoffered" lands, an individual had three months after actual settlement in which to file his declaratory statement. On unsurveyed lands, the declaratory statement was required to be filed within three months after the land office had received an approved plat (survey) of the township in which the claim was located. In such cases, it was possible for the settler to have "squatted" on a tract for some time prior to actually filing a preemption declaratory statement. Regardless of the time limit, a filing fee was required at the time the declaratory statement was made. | ||
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| + | Preemption Proof - For preemptions, as well as other entries under the federal land laws, the settler was required to give proof that he or she had complied with the legal provisions of the law before receiving title to the land from the government. Hence the term "proving up". Preemptions on "offered" lands required proof and final payment within one year after the date of settlement indicated on the declaratory statement. At that time, the settler was required to complete a form known as a preemption proof, secure the testimony of two witnesses on a similar form, and pay for the land with cash, military bounty warrants, or agricultural college scrip, at the government price, usually $1.25 per acre. This price was $2.50 per acre on lands within alternate sections of railroad land grants (double minimum lands). Preemption proofs on "unoffered" or unsurveyed lands were required within thirty months after the expiration of the three-month period allowed for the filing of the declaratory statement. Other requirements for making proof were the same. Notice of intent to "prove up" was required to be published each week for not less than thirty days in a legal newspaper near the land. This provided notice to anyone who had an adverse claim to the specific tract so that a contest could be filed. | ||
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| + | ==THE HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862== | ||
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| + | This act is probably the most familiar of the various laws under which public land was acquired. Its effective date was January 1, 1863. | ||
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| + | The Homestead Act was a federal law offering "free land" to any man (with some restrictions) willing to settle and improve it. Unsettled government lands (purchased from Indian tribes and foreign countries) were divided into townships, each consisting of 36 sections. Each section was further divided into four "quarter-sections" of approximately 160 acres each. A homestead claim consisted of one quarter-section, and could be obtained by paying only filing fees if all conditions were met. | ||
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| + | The Homestead Act was designed to make land available "free" to those who would live on and cultivate a tract for a period of time, usually five years. Though the filing provisions were similar to the pre-emption requirements, there was no per-acre payment required for the land itself. An individual meeting certain requirements could claim up to 160 acres and not less than forty acres of available public land. | ||
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| + | Filing a Homestead entry - The settler was required to complete an application affirming that he or she was age twenty-one or the head of a family, a U.S. citizen or had declared intention to become one, not already the owner of 320 acres of land within the United States, that he had not quit or abandoned land owned by him in the same state or territory, and that the homestead would be for his exclusive use. The entry was then recorded in the records of the land office upon payment of a filing fee. If actual residence had not been established, the settler had six months in which to do so. | ||
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| + | Homestead Proof - In order to make final proof on a homestead, the settler had to reside upon and cultivate the land for five years. Certain special acts extended the residency period in the event of grasshopper devastations or drought. After the residency period had been satisfied, an additional two years was allowed in which to make final proof, or a total of seven years from the date of entry. | ||
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| + | The first step in making proof was to file notice of intention which was to be published in a legal newspaper nearest the land once each week for a period of thirty days. If there were no contests against the homesteader's claim, the final proof could be made. This was done at the land office or at a court of record nearest the land, when travel to the land office involved too great a distance. Like a pre-emption proof, the homesteader completed an affidavit "proving" that he had met the legal requirements and two witnesses completed similar forms testifying to the facts offered in proof of the claim. Homestead proofs required that the applicant be a citizen of the United States. | ||
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| + | Homestead proofs (as well as preemption proofs) normally provided name, age, family status, citizenship, P.O. address, mortgages, date of settlement, description and value of improvements, date residency was established, and a description of cultivation or use of the land. The statements of the witnesses provided essentially the same information as corroborative evidence. | ||
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| + | If the proof was satisfactory, the land office issued the final certificate, a copy of which was sent to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. This office then issued the patent (the well-known homestead document which is often found among family papers). Several months might elapse from the time the final certificate was issued until the patent was delivered to the homesteader. The deed to the property was recorded by the county register of deeds in the county where the land was located. | ||
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| + | Soldier's Homesteads - Among the more common variants of the homestead law were the benefits granted to the Union soldiers who had served in the Civil War. A soldier with at least ninety days of service, or his widow and minor children, was entitled to deduct his time of service from the five-year residency requirement. If the soldier had been discharged due to wounds or service-connected disability, he could deduct the whole period of his enlistment, rather than the period actually served. In no case, however, could the homestead residency requirement be reduced by more than four years. In making proof, the individual had to give evidence of his military service. | ||
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| + | Commuted Homesteads - If a settler desired, he could pay cash for his homestead and receive title to it without fulfilling the five-year residency requirement. In order to commute the homestead, an individual must have resided on, and cultivated, the land for not less than six months. A proof was required in the same form as for pre-emption filings and the settler paid the government price per acre for the land. Cash, military bounty warrants, or agricultural college scrip could be used. An individual who commuted a homestead entry could not move from the tract and legally file a preemption claim. | ||
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| + | Preemptions changed to Homesteads - After a person had filed a pre-emption declaratory statement, he could change the filing into a homestead. The time during which the settler had resided on his pre-emption could be credited to the period of residence and cultivation required under the Homestead Act. Other requirements of the homestead law had to be fulfilled as well. | ||
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| + | ==THE TIMBER CULTURE ACT OF 1873== | ||
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| + | This act was designed to promote tree-planting in the treeless areas of the West. Of all the land laws, the Timber Culture Act was perhaps the least successful and subject to many abuses. The author of the act was U.S. Senator Phineas W. Hitchcock of Nebraska. The Timber Culture Act was repealed in March, 1891, the same year that the Preemption Act was repealed. | ||
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| + | The Timber Culture act added to the Homestead Act, allowing an individual to file on a tree claim in addition to (or instead of) a homestead claim. Original terms required 40 of the 160 acres to be planted in trees, which were to be kept thriving for at least eight years, but as the terms were too difficult for most claimants to meet, an amendment was passed in 1878 changing the terms to planting at least 2700 trees per acre on ten acres of the tree claim within four years of filing, and keeping at least 675 of those trees per acre thriving for eight years. | ||
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| + | ===Requirements for filing a Timber Culture entry=== | ||
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| + | Originally, a timber claim could be filed by anyone. In 1874, the act was amended to require claimants to meet the same age and citizenship qualifications as the pre-emption and homestead acts. Not more than 160 acres could be claimed. Later amendments to the law made it possible for the total acres claimed to be in several smaller tracts as long as the aggregate did not exceed 160 acres. Timber claims did not require residence on the land. No more than one 160 acre timber claim was permitted in each section. | ||
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| + | The original law provided for the planting of forty acres of trees on each 160 acres. This requirement was later reduced to ten acres, to be planted according to the following guidelines: When 160 acres were claimed, at least five acres were to be plowed during the first year. During the second year, this plowed acreage was to be cultivated and a second five acres plowed. In the third year, the initial five acres was planted to trees and the second five acres cultivated. The fourth year required the planting of trees on the second five acres, making a total of ten acres in trees. Not less than 2,700 trees were to be planted on each of the ten acres, or a total of 27,000 trees! If less than 160 acres were claimed, the acreage of trees was reduced proportionately. Non-compliance with the tree planting procedures made the timber claim subject to cancellation after one year. Certain exceptions or extensions were allowed in the event of destruction of the plantings by grasshoppers or the failure of seeds or cuttings to germinate. | ||
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| + | Timber Culture Proofs - At the end of eight years from the date of entry, the settler could make final proof if the necessary conditions had been fulfilled. Five additional years were allowed to make proof, or a total of thirteen years from the date of entry. The claimant had to prove the trees had been planted and cultivated and that not less than 675 living trees per acre had survived. An affidavit or "timber culture proof" had to be completed by the claimant and two witnesses. Such proofs provided less personal information than did homestead or preemption proofs and more details about the planting and cultivation of the trees required under the act. Final certificate and patents were issued as they were under the other land laws. | ||
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| + | ==RELINQUISHMENTS== | ||
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| + | All claims under the Homestead, Preemption and Timber Culture Acts were subject to relinquishment: that is, the claimant gave up any claim to the land which then reverted to the government, subject to further entry. It was illegal to speculate in public lands by filing a claim only for the purpose of relinquishing the tract to another person in return for payment. Despite this prohibition, the relinquishment proviso offered many opportunities for abuse and fraud. Numerous individuals claimed land without any intention to "prove up" and held it in order to "sell a relinquishment" to a second claimant. Often, the local real estate agent would act as the middleman in such transactions by placing prospective settlers in contact with the speculator. The land agent himself probably was involved in the speculative scheme. | ||
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| + | In order to avoid an overt violation of the law against claiming public lands for speculative purposes, the speculator would offer to sell the improvements on the tract (if any), such as a well, or a house, to the new settler. Once the money had changed hands, the claim would be relinquished at the land office and filed on immediately by the other party. The laws against speculation in public lands, as well as many other provisions of the federal land laws, were almost impossible to enforce. | ||
