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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1901)
First Homesteader in the United States Olim uncle Bam lias land enougb to I glvu us nil a farm," was the glad rcrrain 01 mo lancucss men tuir-ty-odd years ago. Undo Sam has been busy ever since 1SG3 giv ing away (arms, and still has a few left. In 18C0 tbo population ot the whole United States was less than 31,500,000; forty yearn later tbe census-takers counted over 76, 100,000 people within tho same boundaries. How much ot this wonderful growth Is due to Uncle Sam's prodigality with his farms can hardly bo stated, but It is certain that during tho nearly thirty-nine years since the homestead law went Into effect millions of tracts of 1C0 acres each havo been given to farmers under the homestead law or tho other laws that supplemented It the pre emption and timber culture acts. Nearly all ot theso farms were given to actual set tlers. Under tho conditions of tho home stead act actual settlement and "contin uous residence on and cultivation of said land" for eight years was a condition prece dent to obtaining patent carrying with it tho title, to tho laud. Under tho pre emption law three years residence, aud the payment ot 1.25 per acre woe required. Tho timber culturo act required the planting and cultivation of a designated number ot trees for a speclllcd length of time. Not long after tho pre-emption luw was passed an other was put Into elTect, allowing the homesteader to commute his entry and make tlual proof at tho end of three years under tho same conditions as those prescribed by the pre-emption law. What a grand domain was settled under sajtsjasfAfeaWt t MjORlGlNAL HUILDINGS ON TIIH FREEMAN HOMESTEAD FROM AN 01,1) I.lTIIOaitAl'II MADE I1Y CHAl'MAN IlllOS. OFCHICAGO. tho operations of these laws! Nebraska, draith, tho hot wind of summer, tho blU- loving, God-fearing society was laid beforo homesteader. Tho dreams ho dreamed when has thus simply told thu facts. Dr. Daniel Kansas, Colorado, tho Dakotas, Wyoming, zard of winter, tho plaguo of grasshoppers, tho political organization of tho country ho first looked out over tho quarter sec- Freeman uf Oago county, Nebraska, who Montana, Utah, Arizona, Now Mexico, tho high prices of necessities and tho low was complete. tlon of prnlrlo tho government proposed was tho first to take u homestead under tho Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington havo prices of produce, they prevailed. The Much that waB now to them had to bo to glvo him havo como to pass. Soma law Gnlusha A. tlrow bo vigorously and received a vust Inllux ot population undor Indian, tho buffalo and tho cattlo bnron learned by these men and women, and failed, cither through lack of courage, of successfully contended for, Is still living the stimulus ot laws which made it pos slblo tor any man with sufficient grit to boconio a landowner. In each of thesa stales thoro aro now thousands ot men In easy, It not actually affluent circumstances, who began as homesteaders or pro-emptors. So little tlmo has elapsed, indeed, slnca thoso days of beginning that tho sod houso Is still to bo seen standing not far from the hand some modern homo of tho thrifty and pros perous farmer, whilo tho "dug out" in which tbo homesteader spent his llrst and often his second winter now serves to pro tect tho potatoes and apples reserved for family consumption. To recount tho trials ot these pioneers, who havo becomo tho old sottlors In established communities almost turlty, is to tell a tale of adventure, hard shin and nrlvntlon. nf tall that seemed hopeless, ot determination born often ot despair and of victory that is glorious in the possession ot acres that teoin with all the lavishness ot bountiful nature Little romance in their lives and yet it seems almost like a romance Never was wilder domain conquered; never was more mag nificent empire built from tho wilderness. Never did army more heroically face dan ger than did tho men and women who havo inado the west what it is. What They Had to Lenrn, Inexperienced In agriculture In a large measure, many never having followed tho plow before they turned the first furrow in the virgin soil; unacquainted with even the language of tbo country, let alone the laws and customs, for many came as direct from tbe old world as transportation lines could bring them, and all, even thoso who had farmed in the older sections of the United States, unversed In tbe requirements for tbe successful tlllago of the new soil, they bravely set about tho making of homes Aggmr- ,. THE UNITED ST AT"S,qS ' Co all lo Inborn lUrsr nrtstiils shall tiarrtirtriinn. AMERICA; Ife- . i I ... T i l Sir v.jK ml . .-S.I ' 5? hi ii n OMIIILl mf tr uimi&Ducc or tit oma mm t&hiilffo 1 J I. . FAC SIMILE OP THE PATENT ISSUED I1V PIIHSIDENT OUANT TO DANIEL FREEMAN. letlred before them. with them. Religion and How much ot heartache was borne in tho In band, settled wherever tho homesteader well as tho sweat of their faces. New ways Bentlal to success were lacking. These long days that followed cannot even bo took up his abode. In every community tho of farming, new ways uf caring tor crops failures a fiord tho tragedy ot tbo story, guessed at, much less told. We know of church and the school houso wero tho first and for stock, now Bceds and now fruits, Nebrnsko, llrst In bo many other things, what they had to overcome Against 'he framo buildings and the foundation of law- but out of It all has come triumph for the has tho distinction ot being tho homo of tho first homesteader of tho United Stntcs. T : : '. Tm In a speech delivered Fobruary 1897. In tho houso of representatives on "Right ful Ownership of tho Soil," Congressman Oalusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania, father of tho homestead bill, said In part: "On ou tho farm of his selection. Ills homo Is on Cub creek, about live miles west of llcatrlco. His original entry of 1G0 acres has expanded until It Is now a magnificent farm of 1,200 acres, well stocked and equipped with tho best of buildings and modern machinery. Dr. Freeman Is hale and hearty and appears to enjoy ll(o as much as bo ever did. Dr. Freeman was not exactly engaged on tho "tented field" when ho mado his homo Htead entry. Ho had enlisted at tho first call for troops In an Illinois regiment, but after a short service In tho Infantry was transferred to tho secret servlco department and served in this for nearly llvo years. Late In 1SC2 ho was assigned to duty at Fort Leavenworth. While on a leave of absencu ho mado his selection of tho land ho subsequently settled upon and wont to Drownvlllo, whero tho land offlco had been established, to make bis filing. Tho law went Into effect on January 1, 18C3, aud Freeman had to bo at Fort Leavenworth on that day. When ho reached Drownvlllo ho found that tho land offlco forco Intcndod to observe New Year's day bb a holiday and would not open tho office. Ho located tho chief clerk at a danco which was bolng held In ono of tho town halls and explain ing to htm tho urgency of tho case pre vailed upon him to open tho land offlco and recelvu tho filing. Thus It happened that at ono minute past midnight on tho morn lug of January 1, 1863, tho first homestead entry under tho new law was mado. Since then hundreds of thousands of homestead entries havo been filed, millions on mil lions of acres of land havo been glvon to settlers by the government, states and ter ritories havo sprung up trom tho public domain and the tide of civilization has rolled hundreds of miles to tho westward ot Civilization came their scanty bread was too often eaten skill or because they pitched their choice Cu, CTCC( a wlthln half tho llfotlmo of nd education, hand In tho tears of bitter disappointment, as on Innd whero some of tho elements es- ' mnn ' stststHBsB'l' ono man. Daniel Freeman was born April 20, 1826, In Problo county, Ohio. Ills parents moved whllo ho was still an Infant to Attlcn, Gen esee county, N. Y. There ho attendod the public schools until his pnrentb, when ho was 9 years eld, emigrated to Illinois, Bot tling In Knox county. Iloro ho attended tho district Kchool and worked until ho was 19, when ho went to Peoria and began fuo tho 30th day of March, 1852, my flrBt "lu,ujr ,vl . , speech as a member of congress was made Eclectic Institute of Medicine at Clncln In tho old hall of the houso of represents- nntl nml WIls Krnduutcd from there a mom tlvca, on 'Mnn's Right to tho Soli.' From ber ' t"u cIa"8 ot 818- Hoturnlng to Illl thot time forth, in season and out of sea- no,B 1,0 began his professional career at son, tho policy of froo homes for freo men Ottawu, where ho was prospering at the was kept constantly beforo congress, until breaking out of tho war. Ills enlistment tho 20th day of May, 1862 (to tako effect was among tho first, but his sorvlcu on tho January 1, 1863), when It becamo tho law Hno was brief, ho having been early trans of tho land by tho slgnaturo of tho un- ferrod to tho secret service, In which ho lettered child ot tho prairies, Abraham Lin- remained until tho lattor part of 186S. After coin, after I had signed tho enrolled bill ho bad dually taken up his resldcnco on a ns speaker of tho house. farm In Gage county UIj experience In tbo "Thoro are two Interesting Incidents con- secret servlco was called Into use by his nected with tbo final paasago ot tho original follow citizens, and ho was elected sheriff freo homestead bill. First, It took effect of Gago county, serving long and well. Not on tho day of Lincoln's emancipation proc- Bo vory long ago the old courthouso at Be laraatlon; second, tho first sottlor under atrlco was torn down, being replaced by a tho homestead bill, which provided froo handsome new county building. Dr. Free homes for freo mon, was named Freeman. mnn WBB interested spoctntor of the Daniel Freeman, Gago county. Nebraska, work of demolition. As tho work pro wob a union soldier, homo on a furlough. Kregse(j a ,mrk nn,i ,iBmal dungeon In tho which would expiro on tho 2d or 3d day of .ccar wnR ,,Uc,ogc(,, immediately the January, 1863. At a llttlo past midnight, ,,octor recacd lt navln , 1)eon t0 , his entry In tho land offlco of his district. ,,K, -, ,., ,' ..,,.. ' and left his home tho same day to take hlsBntl ,., . place again In tho ranki on tho tentedB, -n"' l" , u PRESENT RESIDENCE OF DR. FREEMA N ON HIS FARM NEAR BEATRICE. Neb. fields. His entry was No. 1, his proof of residence was No. 1, hU patent was No. 1 recorded on page 1, of book 1, of tho lanrj offlco of tbe United States. The first settle'! under this law was a Freeman, and, I trust tho last of Its beneficiaries in the Ion coming years of tbo future will bo a frc man." The venernblo Pennsylvania statcsmi palo, sickly youth on a chargo of horse stealing. I know ho could not llvo In that bole until court set, and told tho Judgo bo. lo agreed with mo that tho boy would die horo. Well, one night something hap tened, I don't remember exactly what, but waBii't many hours until that boy was cross tbe river Into Iowa."