Today's document in William H. Ballinger's preemption file states that he purchased 160 acres on 3 April 1865 for $1.25 per acre totalling $200. This is consistent with the Answers.com discussion which states,
The act of 1841 permitted settlers to stake a claim of 160 acres (65 hectares) and after about 14 months of residence to purchase it from the government for as little as $1.25 an acre before it was offered for public sale.It also contains the legal description of the property which we can place on a map. That is something we will look at in our next post, along with some current day pictures of the area.
Finally, I note that for this transaction, William's last name is spelled Ballinger instead of Ballenger as it has been spelled in other transactions. No doubt this was done to keep people like me on my toes!
First, the transcription. Then an image of the document. Oh, yes. Bonus points for whoever can figure out what the Registrar's name really is. (There will be several future opportunities to try and decipher if you can't get it on this one.)
No. 244 LAND OFFICE at Denver City, C. T. April 3d 1865.
It is hereby certified, That in pursuance of Law, William H.Ballinger of
Boulder County,
of this Office, the Lot or S.W. 1/4,, S.W. 1/4 Sec. 17 & S.E. 1/4,, S.E. 1/4 Sec. 18 & N.E. 1/4,, N.E. 1/4
Sec. 19 & N.W. 1/4,, N.W. 1/4 of Section No. Twenty in Township No.
One North of Range No. Seventy West containingOne hundred and sixty acres, at the rate of
One dollar and - 25- cents per acre, amounting to Two hundred
dollars and ------ cents, for which the said William H. Bal-
linger has made payment in full as required by law.
Now, therefore, be it known, That, on presentation of this certificate to the
COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, the said William H.Ballinger shall be entitled to receive a Patent for the Lot above described.
JSMMel[_]ilcott [unsure about signature] Register.
[written across the document]
Preemption act of 4th Sept.1841
Here are links to the entire series, in case you are interested:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Summary
Artwork compliments of Free Clip Art Now
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum
I vote for surname of Wilcott.
ReplyDeleteBut, it is too late in the day for me to even guess what comes before that! LOL
G.M.Wilcott
ReplyDeleteWas this 160 acres offered with the stipulation that the land be farmed or homesteaded within a certain period of time? Wasn't there some kind of land "giveaway" whereby it became your property if you stayed for 5 years and made it productive with some crop or animals? (Maybe that was a story line in a book I read)
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at that name over, and over, and over all I could get was the ___cott!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, You are thinking of the Homestead act. There were stipulations with the Preemption Act of 1841 as well. We'll get into that later...
Hmmmm. Take a look at the census for the area closest to that time to see if any Wilcotts are listed and what their job is....if you have a free couple hours to kill.
ReplyDeleteLori, Spoken like a true genealogist. I'm all over it. Just as soon as I have a couple of hours to kill.... :)
ReplyDelete