Nearly a month ago, in the first post in this series (here), I noted that a secondary motto of the blog might be: There is always more to learn. This post begins with a corollary to that secondary motto: Sometimes when you learn more, you need to correct earlier errors.
For example, a January 2017 post titled “Nebraska Railroad Land” (here) included the statement that Peter D and Sarah had “almost certainly” purchased their initial 80 acres (the north half of the northeast quarter of Farmers Valley section 12) from the railroad. As we recently learned, they actually purchased the land from Johan Sperling, who had purchased it from the original homesteader, Adolph Reuber (see here). The 2017 post has now been updated with a correction.
The greater lesson in all this is that, if I knew then all that I have since learned about the Homestead Act, I would not have made this mistake. Let me explain.
The line drawing to the right shows the layout of a standard township. Although a county’s boundaries and shape did not always permit it, the ideal township was 6 miles tall and 6 miles wide. Each square mile was then assigned a section number as shown: starting with section 1 in the upper right and snaking across and down and back and forth until one arrives at section 36 in the lower right.
How does this relate to the Homestead Act? In the area of Nebraska that concerns us, it is easy to know which sections were homesteaded and which were disposed of through other means.
According to Bureau of Land Management records (searchable database here), the following sections in Henderson Township of York County were homesteaded: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34. In Brown Township just to the north, the following sections were homesteaded: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34. Peter D and Sarah’s farm was located in Farmers Valley Precinct of Hamilton County; sections homesteaded in that township were 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34. So also Beaver Precinct, the township to the north, where sections 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, and 34 were homesteaded.
Are you seeing a pattern here? At least in this part of Nebraska (and probably elsewhere in Nebraska and even other states, though I have not checked), only even-numbered sections of land were available for homesteading. Had I known this in 2017, I would also have known that Peter D and Sarah did not buy their 80 acres of section 12 of Farmers Valley from the railroad; section 12 had been homesteaded.
What about the sections not included in the lists above? First, the federal government deeded all the odd-numbered sections in this area to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company. An extract from the tract book for Henderson Township shows how the land grant was recorded.
The “all” in the left column indicates that this line encompasses the entirety of section 15 of township 9, range 4 west, that is, the entire 640 acres. The following statement identifies the owner of this section. The land was “selected by B&MRRCo” on 8 December 1871 according to a legislative “act” of 2 July 1864. The Nebraska State Historical Society explains:
The Union Pacific Land Grant Act of July 1, 1862, as amended by the act of July 2, 1864, granted all odd-numbered sections in every township within 20 miles on each side of the proposed Union Pacific Railroad. In addition, the amended act of July 2, 1864, granted the odd-numbered sections in every township within 10 miles to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company from the Missouri River south of the mouth of the Platte to some point not further west than the 100th meridian of west longitude where the Burlington road should connect with the Union Pacific. … In Nebraska, the Burlington received a total grant of 2,374,090 acres. (see here; for the full text of the 2 July 1864 act, see here)
To promote settlement, the federal government granted land not only to individuals willing to homestead but also to railroads who agreed to lay track that would enable travel and transport into and back from the newly settled areas. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company (B&MRRCo in the tract book) was the railroad laying track across Nebraska to connect with the transcontinental Union Pacific (see further here). The B&MR was thus granted sections 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, and 35 in the townships discussed above. Of the 23,040 acres within each township, the B&MR held the deed to 11,520 acres, half of the total township.
What, then, of sections 16 and 36? Careful readers will have noticed that those sections are missing from the lists of even-numbered sections. They were neither available for homesteading nor granted to the railroads. Sections 16 and 36 were designated school land. This was not land on which schools were to be built but rather land whose sale proceeds would fund public education in the township. I am unsure which legal entity collected, held, and managed the funds thus generated; perhaps it was a county or state department of education. Whatever the details might have been, sections 16 and 36 were set aside to support public schools within the township, thus further helping settlers lay the foundation for the lives they hoped to build in this new territory.
One final note: I notice that the Chris and Malinda Buller farm south of Lushton was located in section 36 of Henderson Township. Based on what we now know, we can say that the farm on which Chris and Malinda raised their family was neither homesteaded nor purchased from the B&MR; rather, its first owner bought a portion of the township’s designated school land.
* For an interesting and instructive blog post about the U.S. Homestead Acts, see the Sutton Nebraska Museum blog here.
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