Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862. This act opened up 270 million acres of land to homesteaders. Individuals who were 21 and the head of a household could claim 160 acres for a $12 fee. The person also had to be an American citizen or declare intention to become a citizen. Once the fee was paid, the person had to live on the land as a permanent residence and make improvements. These included building a home, planting trees, and growing crops or raising livestock. After five years, it was time to “prove up” the claim. The prospective landowner would go to the land office with two witnesses who would declare that the requirements had been met. For a $6 fee, the homesteader took official possession of the land.
Many railroad companies sent representatives to Europe to entice people to emigrate to America. The representatives went armed with pictures of beautiful towns and broad fields with good soil. The Homestead Act also provided an opportunity for African-Americans to own land. There were also many people in the East who were anxious to leave overcrowded cities.
Women were able to claim land in their own names if they were single, widowed, divorced, or abandoned. Thousands of women took advantage of the opportunity, though the Act discriminated against married women since the claimant had to be head of a household.
Kristen Knudsen came to North Dakota from Norway. She didn’t know anyone and didn’t speak English, but she claimed her own homestead. Even older women took part in the land rush. Anna Hensel was 67 when she came from Russia and settled in Hettinger County.
But on this date in 1908, the Golden Valley Chronicle announced an additional hurdle for women. It involved an exception for the residence requirement that did not apply to postmasters, postal clerks, county officers, and their deputies. Since these people had to perform duties in towns, they were not required to live on their homesteads. They just had to show they had met the residential requirements before receiving government appointments. Many of the people who fell into this category were women. But the land office became concerned that too many homesteads were not serving as permanent residences. Consequently, a ruling was made that women had to live on the homestead to prove it up even if they held a government appointment. No such provision was made for men.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Golden Valley Chronicle. “New Land Office Ruling.” 20 November 1908. Beach ND. Page 1.
National Park Service. “The Homestead Act and President Lincoln.” https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/education/upload/homestead-act-3-5.pdf Accessed 24 October 2018.
Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. “Women Homesteaders.” http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.gen.040 Accessed 24 October 2018.
