Taylor County, Iowa 1881 History: p389

FIRST LAND ENTRIES

(Page 389)

Prior to the opening of the general land-office, at Council Bluffs, which originally embraced within its jurisdiction fourteen counties in southwestern Iowa, the settler held the land by right of preemption and claim laws. This precarious right of claim was the sole tenure, and was precarious because mere occupancy of government land, without a compliance with certain legal formalities, gave no certain property in the land occupied to the possessor of it. Preemptions were different, and gave the settler the right to hold one hundred and sixty acres, and, when it was surveyed and brought into market, the privilege of buying it at the minimum rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. But though three hundred and twenty acres, or even more, might be claimed, it was liable to be sold to the highest bidder, at the sales, according to the usual laws affecting the sale of government land, and those who held claims, merely, were uneasy, since they might lose their lands and the improvements they had made by being ousted at the sales. Much of the land was worth far more than the minimum price, especially the rich woodland and prairie region conjoined, or lands in the vicinity of towns, or such as were near, or contained, valuable deposits of stone or coal. Speculators took advantage of these facts, noted the most valuable portions of the country, and were ready to give high prices for them. This abuse, for it was nothing else, could not, of course, be prevented by the government, whose duty it was to sell the lands to the best advantage, as if a private landholder. But it aroused all the fear and all the passion of the early settlers, and these found expression in the organization in various counties of protective associations. Vigorous measures were often taken, and finally the rights of the settlers came to be respected.

The entering of land was a circumstance, forward to which the settler (page 390) looked with kindling hopes. Then would be assured to him the right to own and enjoy in fee simple the land he had for years, perhaps, cultivated, though not, in point of fact, his own. But once it was entered in his name, and the purchase price paid, then his title was held secure and lasting. The following are the land entries made at the land-office at Council Bluffs, Iowa:

May 24, 1853, J. M. Stockton, sections 29, 30, 31, 32, township 68, range 35, 160 acres.

May 24, 1853, Thomas Holland, section 31, township 68, 80 acres

May 27, 1853, Wm. B. Waumsley, section 6, township 67, 153.70 acres

May 27, 1853, Elias Bridgewater, section 5, township 67, 160 acres

June 1, 1853, James Mason, section 14, township 68, 80 acres

June 1, 1853, Krout, section 31, township 67, 166.28 acres

June 3, 1853, Wm. H. Fergson, section 6, township 67, 154.28 acres

July 8, 1858, John L. Stephens, section 8, township 67, 160 acres

July 8, 1853, Jacob Miller, section 18, township 67, 33.19 acres

July 22, 1853, Joseph Buckingham, section 18, township 69, 39.18 acres

July 25, 1853, Joshua Brown, section 14, township 67, 39.34 acres

September 9, 1853, James Scarlett, section 33, township 69, 40 acres

September 9, 1853, Abner N. Dougherty, section 32, township 68, 80 acres

(page 391)

September 7, 1858, Samuel Wininger, section 29, township 68, 80 acres

September 9, 1853, William W. Scarlett, section 18, township 68, 35.87 acres

September 9, 1853, Samuel Scarlett, section 18, township 68, 75.30 acres

December 9, 1853, James Ross, section 5, township 67, 81.12 acres

December 9, 1853, John Lambert, section 5, 8, township 67, 80 acres

December 9, 1853, Henry Baker, section 18, township 67, 80 acres

December 13, 1853, Joshua Brown, section 14, township 67, 39.34 acres

December 13, 1853, James Mason, section 10, 15, township 68, 120 acres

December 13, 1853, Henry McAlpin, section 30, township 69, 40 acres

Subsequently, after the opening of the land-office at Chariton, in Lucas county, most of the settlers entering land in this county went to that point.