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In 1862 the United States enacted a homestead law to encourage development of mostly-empty western federal lands and promote the yeoman farmer ideal. The original homestead law gave an applicant up to 160 acres (1/4 of a section) of undeveloped land in any federal-land state or territory. To obtain the land a settler had to: | In 1862 the United States enacted a homestead law to encourage development of mostly-empty western federal lands and promote the yeoman farmer ideal. The original homestead law gave an applicant up to 160 acres (1/4 of a section) of undeveloped land in any federal-land state or territory. To obtain the land a settler had to: | ||
:#file application papers, and pay filing fees, eventually a total of $18 | |||
:#improve the land over the next five years (usually build a dwelling, and start a farm) | |||
:#file for a deed of title. | |||
Between 1862 and 1986 about 10 percent of all land in the United States, 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi), were transferred from federal to private control through 1.6 million granted homesteads.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref> | Between 1862 and 1986 about 10 percent of all land in the United States, 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi), were transferred from federal to private control through 1.6 million granted homesteads.<ref>United States, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, “About the Homestead Act” in ''Homestead National Monument of America'' at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm (accessed 5 February 2010).</ref> | ||
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*'''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Incomplete Applications:''' The 60 percent of homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are '''not''' in the Land Patent Search, but they '''are''' in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications from the [http://www.archives.gov/research/land/ingalls/index.html National Archives.] However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead. | *'''Obtaining the Legal Land Description of Incomplete Applications:''' The 60 percent of homesteaders who never obtained a patent because they did not finish are '''not''' in the Land Patent Search, but they '''are''' in the application papers. It is possible to get copies of unfinished applications from the [http://www.archives.gov/research/land/ingalls/index.html National Archives.] However, to see such application papers you must figure out another way to obtain the legal description of the land they started to homestead. | ||
:If you know the approximate location (at least the county), the legal land description of a homestead may be found in the General Land Office [[Grants from the Federal Government (Public Domain)#Obtaining_a_Legal_Description_of_the_Land|tract books]] available at the [http://history.nd.gov/archives/gentractbooks.html National Archives] in Washington, DC, or from [https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/ FamilySearch Library] in Salt Lake City ({{FSC|607931|title-id|disp=on 1,265 microfilms starting with FS Library Film 1445277}}). These federal tract books are arranged by state, land office, and legal land description. States often have their own version of these tract books. For instructions see E. Wade Hone, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36074524 Land & Property Research in the United States]'' (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997), appendices "Tract Book and Township Plat Map Guide to Federal Land States" and "Land Office Boundary Maps for All Federal Land States." Also, you may be able to obtain a legal description of the land from the county recorder of deeds in the county where the land was located.<ref name="NPSGen" /> | |||
*'''Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives'''''<b>.</b>'' For detailed instructions online explaining how to obtain homestead papers for (a) homesteads granted, and (b) unfinished homestead applications see “Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives” at the '''''end of''''' "[http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy]." | *'''Obtaining Homestead Papers from the National Archives'''''<b>.</b>'' For detailed instructions online explaining how to obtain homestead papers for (a) homesteads granted, and (b) unfinished homestead applications see “Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives” at the '''''end of''''' "[http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/W,pdf,Genealogy,rvd.pdf Homestead National Monument of America – Genealogy]." | ||
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