The conditions under which the homesteader
received the land were very strict and violations could be open to subjective
judgment. A note on the bottom of Homestead Receivers Receipt reads as follows:
(see App. C)
It is
required of the homestead settler that he shall reside upon and cultivate the
land embraced in his homestead entry for a period of five years from the time
of filing the affidavit, being also the date of entry. An abandonment of the
land for more than six months works a forfeiture of the claim. Further, within two
years from the expiration of the said five years he must file proof of his
actual settlement and cultivation, failing to do which, his entry will be
canceled. If the settler does not wish to remain five years on his tract, he
can, at any time after fourteen months, pay for it with cash or land warrants,
upon making proof of settlement and of residence and cultivation from the date
of filing affidavit to the time of payment.
The side note on the same document is even
more subject to interpretation. It reads as follows:
Timber
land embraced in a homestead, or other entry not consummated, may be cleared in
order to cultivate the land and improve the premises, but for no other purpose.
If after clearing the land for cultivation, there remains more timber than is
required for improvement, there is no objection to the settler disposing of the
same.
But the question whether the land is being
cleared of its timber for legitimate purposes is a question that can be raised
at any time.
If the
timber is cut and removed for any other purpose it will subject the entry to
cancellation, and the person who cut it will be liable to civil suit for
recovery of the value of said timber, and also to criminal prosecution under
Section 2461 of the Revised Statutes.
Applying for the homestead was quite
expensive. According to the above mentioned Receivers Receipt the cost was
$13.85 "being the amount of fee and compensation of Register and
Receiver ..."
Two days previous Ole had signed a Homestead
Affidavit stating he was the head of a household and that he had declared his
intention to become a citizen of The United States of America. (see App. D) In
this document he had to swear that the
...application
is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose of actual settlement and
cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person...
January 26, 1891 Ole applied for citizenship
and renounced his allegiance to The King Of Norway and Sweden. (see App. E)
When I was young I remember Ozzie saying that
the reason our great grandfather came to America was to get more land for his
sons. The Homestead Affidavit could have put a stop to that idea. I know of no
land near the farm that was called his homestead.
On December
21, 1892 Ole had to sign a Non-Mineral Affidavit. This affidavit reads in part:
...that he
is well acquainted with the character of said described land, and with each and
every legal subdivision thereof, having frequently passed over the same; that
his personal knowledge of said is such as to enable him to testify
understandingly with regard thereto; that there is not, to his knowledge,
within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz or other rock, bearing
gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; that
there is not within the limits of said land, to his knowledge, any placer,
cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit; that no portion of said land
is worked for mineral during any part of the year by any person or persons;
that said land is essentially non-mineral land, and that his application
therefore is not made for any purpose of fraudulently obtaining title to
mineral land...
There is a question as to how much of this
legal jargon Ole understood. Ole did not understand English very well so
interpreters were used to communicate the message.
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To Prove Up The Claim Ole had to sign many
documents some of which were similar to those he signed to apply for the
homestead. First an Affidavit Of Publication had to be made by the publisher of
The Bottineau Courant that the Notice of Homestead Final Proof of Ole Dravland
had been carried by the Courant six successive weeks. This proof was printed as
follows:
U.S. Land
Office At Devils Lake North Dakota Notice is hereby given that the following
named settler has filed notice of his intention to make final proof in support
of his claim, and that said proof will be made before A. W. McKinnon, Clerk of
the District Court of Bottineau County, North Dakota, at Bottineau, North
Dakota, on August 2,1898,viz:
On
Homestead Entry no. 4594, for the east half of the south-west quarter and lots
6 and 7, Section 6, Township 162, Range 76. He names the following witnesses to
prove his continuous residence upon, and cultivation of said land, viz: Nils
Sivertson, Jacob L. Gorder, Martin Rothe and Hans Pederson, all of Bottineau,
North Dakota June 25-July 30 pd.
This notice was also posted at a
'conspicuous` place in the office of the Register for thirty days; first posted
22nd. June 1898. (see App. G) Another copy of the NON-Mineral Affidavit was
signed before A.W.McKinnon, Clerk of the District Court in Bottineau August 2nd.
1898. Also the Homestead Proof-Testimony Of Witness forms were prepared by the
above mentioned witnesses on August 2nd. (see App. H-k). These witnesses had to
swear that Ole was a man of good character, upholds the constitution of the
United States, had lived on the farm for five years, and had fulfilled the
terms of the contract. Ole had to sign the last two documents of the day; the
Homestead Proof-Testimony Of Claimant (see App. A) and the Final Affidavit
Required of Homestead Claimants (see App. L).
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On August 4th. 1898, two days after signing
the Final Affidavit Required of Homestead Claimants, the Register, R. Noble in
the Land Office in Devils Lake, prepared the Homestead Final Certificate no.
2532 (see App. M) that stated in part "...Ole Dravland shall be entitled
to a patent for the tract of land...". However before this document was received
Ole had to pay $3.85 "...being the balance of payment required by law for
the timber-culture..." on his land. Evidently this document on Timber
Culture needed considerable testimony because there was an additional charge of
$1.00 for 670 words of testimony at the rate of $0.15 per 100 words (see App.
N).
The patent was signed by The President Of The
United States, William M. McKinley, or more likely his Secretary J. M. McKear.
It was issued January 14th. 1899 (See App. O) The original document hangs
framed at the homestead.