§ 160. Bona fide Settlers on Above Lands Prior to, etc. § 161. § 162. Certain Lands to be Patented to Indians Making Selections. § 163. Entry of 160 Acres of Double-minimum Lands Allowed after March 3, 1879. Additional Entry of Adjoining Lands Allowed. New Entry, when Allowed. § 164. Homestead Claimants or their Assignees may Purchase Lands at $1.25 per Acre in Certain Cases. § 165. Confirmation of Homestead Entries within Railroad Limits Made § 166. Lands within Railroad Grants Re-entered by Claimants after Abandonment. § 167. Homestead Entries Made after Expiration of Land Grants Confirmed. § 124. Who may Enter Certain Unappropriated Public Lands. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which such person may have filed a preemption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same have been surveyed. And every person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. 12 Stat. 392; 18 Id. 15, 22, 194, 334, 420; 19 Id. 35, 405; R. S. 2289. § 125. Mode of Procedure.-The person applying for the benefit of the preceding section shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the register or receiver that he is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or has performed service in the army or navy of the United States, and that such application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person; and upon filing such affidavit with the register or receiver, on payment of five dollars when the entry is of not more than eighty acres, and on payment. of ten dollars when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified. 12 Stat. 392; 13 Id. 35; 14 Id. 67; 18 Id. 192, 420; R. S. 2290. § 126. Pre-emption Filing Changed to Homestead Entry.—Any person who has made a settlement on the public lands under the pre-emption laws, and has subsequent to such settlement changed his filing in pursuance of law to that for a homestead entry upon the same tract of land, shall be entitled, subject to all the provisions of law relating to homesteads, to have the time required to perfect his title under the homestead laws computed from the date of his original settlement heretofore made, or hereafter to be made, under the pre-emption laws. 19 Stat. 404; 20 Id. 63. § 127. Homestead Settlers Allowed Same Time as Pre-emptors to File Application for Lands.-Any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States land office as is now allowed to settlers under the pre-emption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement, the same as if he settled under the pre-emption laws. 21 Stat. 140, 141. or § 128. Certificate and Patent, when Given and Issued.-No certificate, however, shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry, or if he be dead, his widow, or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee, or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death, proves by two credible witnesses that he, she, they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit, and makes affidavit that no part of such land has been alienated, except as provided in section 2288 R. S., and that he, she, or they will bear true allegiance to the government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law. The proof of residence, occupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the oath of allegiance, required to be made by this section, may be made before the judge, or, in his absence, before the clerk, of any court of record of the county and state, or district and territory, in which the lands are situated; and if said lands are situated in any unorganized county, such proof may be made in a similar manner in any adjacent county in said state or territory; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register or receiver of the proper land district; and the same shall be transmitted by such judge, or the clerk of his court, to the register and the receiver, with the fee and charges allowed by law to him; and the register and receiver shall be entitled to the same fees for examining and approving said testimony as are now allowed by law for taking the same; and if any witness making such proof, or the said applicant making such affidavit or oath, swears falsely as to any material matter contained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing being willful and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and penalties as if he had sworn falsely before the register. 14 Stat. 67; 18 Id. 81; 19 Id. 403; R. S. 2291. § 129. When Rights Inure to the Benefit of Infant Children.In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of such infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the state in which such children · for the time being have their domicile, sell the land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States on the payment of the office fees and sum of money above specified. 14 Stat. 67; R. S. 2292. § 130. Homestead Entries of Insane Persons Confirmed in Cerlain Cases. In all cases in which parties who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon, according to the provisions of the homestead laws, have become insane, or shall hereafter become insane, before the expiration of the time during which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of the land claimed by them is required by law to be continued in order to entitle them to make the proper proof and perfect their claims, it shall be lawful for the required proof and payment to be made for their benefit by any person who may be legally authorized to act for them during their disability, and thereupon their claims shall be confirmed and patented, provided it shall be shown by proof satisfactory to the commissioner of the general land office that the parties complied in good faith with the legal requirements up to the time of their becoming insane; and the requirement in homestead entries of an affidavit of allegiance by the applicant, in certain cases as a prerequisite to the issuing of the patents, shall be dispensed with so far as regards insane persons. 21 Stat. 166. § 131. Persons in Military or Naval Service, when and before Whom to Make Affidavit.-In case of any person desirous of availing himself of the benefits of this chapter, but who, by reason of actual service in the military or naval service of the United States is unable to do the personal preliminary acts at the district land office which the preceding sections require, and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and settlement have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer commanding in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged; which affidavit shall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register or receiver; and upon such affidavit being filed with the register by the wife or other representative of the party, the same shall become effective from the date of such filing, provided the application and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. 13 Stat. 35; R. S. 2293. § 132. When Persons may Make Affidavit before Clerk of Court. In any case in which the applicant, for the benefit of the homestead, and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and settlement have been made, is prevented, by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, it may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by law before the clerk of the court for the county in which the applicant is an actual resident, and to transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to the register and receiver. 13 Stat. 35; 18 Id. 192; R. S. 2294. § 133. Record of Applications.-The register of the land office shall note all applications under the provisions of this chapter, on the tract-books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the general land office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded. 12 Stat. 393; R. S. 2295. § 134. Homestead Lands not to be Subject to Prior Debts.-No lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor. 12 Stat. 393; R. S. 2296. § 135. When Lands Entered for Homestead Revert to Government.-If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in section 2290 R. S., and before the expiration of the five years mentioned in section 2291 R. S., it is proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit has actually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the government; provided, that where there may be climatic reasons, the commissioner of the general land office may, in his discretion, allow the settler twelve months from the date of filing in which to commence his residence on said land under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. 12 Stat. 393; 18 Id. 294; 19 Id. 36; R. S. 2297. § 136. Publication of Notice of Contest in Homstead Cases.— The notices of contest provided by law, under the homestead laws, shall be printed in some newspaper printed in the county where the land in contest lies; and if no newspaper be printed in such county, then in the newspaper printed in the county nearest to such land. 20 Stat. 91; Cir. G. L. O., June 12, 1878, 5 Copp's L. O. 101; General Cir., Sept. 1, 1879, p. 14. § 137. Notice of Intention to Make Final Proof.-Before final proof shall be submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under the laws providing for homestead entries, such person shall file with the register of the proper land office a notice of his or her intention to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to be entered, and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be established. 20 Stat. 472. |